Alison, It's Your Wonderful Life
by amykay
Summary: While in a coma, Alison Faireborn gets to see her past, present and a possible future.


_Author's Note: When I first envisioned my trilogy, I had it taking a darker turn than the one that was published. It all came about more than three years ago after reading then-recent GI Joe news regarding Marissa Faireborn, and how they were going to confirm that she was Flint's daughter. I was googling stories about her and I found a video of the old Transformers episode of the Killing Jar. I skimmed through it, but found it really interesting in one of the scenes that when "Flint" met up with Marissa, he called himself her closest relative._

 _I immediately assumed that meant that Flint and Marissa were the only two left in their family. So I started wondering that if Flint and Lady Jaye did get married and had Marissa, what happened to Lady Jaye? At that point my three novels were born. I began to write scenes as they came to me. I had a rough idea for the beginning – a new general comes between Flint and Lady Jaye just as she finds out she's pregnant; an even rougher idea for the middle – they manage to work it out! Then a couple of years down the road, Alison gets cancer and dies. But that wasn't the end of the story, I wanted to explore how Marissa grows up and Flint finds a way to move on._

 _In the early stages I sent a rough draft of haphazard chapters to my beta Mossley. She told me that she liked it but that she only had one request, that Lady Jaye lives. I debated that with her, because I liked the scenes that I had come up with about Flint and Marissa's lives after Alison. We also debated the meaning of the scene in the Killing Jar. She suggested that maybe that was an in-joke between him and Lady Jaye, that Marissa was "his" baby girl._

 _Eventually I came around to the idea. I never liked the thought of Lady Jaye randomly getting sick and dying, so when I thought of the Red Shadows plot, and how to make that the thread that interweaved through the stories, I ran with it. I also then liked the idea of Flint being the one that saves her while she is on her death bed._

 _Since then I noticed that many of the post Joes shutdown and/or reinstated stories have Lady Jaye tragically dying at some point (Thanks Devils Due!). I get the fascination. To have them happy and secure with a couple of kids is not that exciting. But how come it's always Lady Jaye that dies? (Again, thanks Devils Due)._

 _Anyway, even though I'm happy with the final product, there was the part of me that was a little sad to let the alternate future go. Until last December, when in the midst of the Christmas season I was hit with the thought of It's a Wonderful Life, and how I could use the theory of an omniscient angel to show Alison a future that could have been had she not recovered. I expanded the idea to flesh out more of Lady Jaye's history and this story was born._

 _I hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas!_

"Alison," A soft-spoken voice said.

At the sound of her name, Alison began to stir. But despite her best effort, she couldn't open her eyes.

"Hold on, let me help you." A hand to match the soothing voice gently rubbed at her eyes. It was what she needed to finally open them.

The room was dark, but an elderly man with a shirt as white as his hair was standing at her bedside. There was a glow of light around him. Alison didn't recognize the man. He didn't look like a doctor. "Who are you? Where is Dash?"

He seemed to ignore the first question. "Your husband is home with your daughter. If you'd like I can show you them?"

Alison didn't understand the question. Before she could give any kind of answer, he grabbed her hand, and suddenly she was transported to her living room. Marissa was sitting on the couch, clutching one of her beloved dolls. A favorite cartoon was on the television, but Alison could see she had no interest in it.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Alison asked as she approached her.

Marissa didn't respond, and for a moment Alison was afraid there was something wrong with her. But then the strange man reached out and grabbed her arm. "She can't see or hear you. You can't interact with anyone in these visions."

Alison was going to ask him what he meant, but before she could Marissa broke into a deep sob. She called out for her father. Flint came rushing in from the kitchen, and Alison gasped when she saw him. He looked haggard and tired, and much older than his actual age. Plus his blotchy face betrayed the fact that he had been crying. "Marissa, what happened?"

Marissa dropped her doll and opened her arms. Flint engulfed her in a hug. As she settled her head against his shoulder she said in a pitiful voice, "I want mommy."

"I know sweetie," Flint answered with a choked sob. "I do too. But she has to stay in the hospital until she gets better."

Despite what she had been told, Alison went to Marissa and Dash. She wanted to comfort them and tell them that she was okay, but her hands went right through the two of them. The next thing she knew she was back in her hospital room.

"I told you, you can't interact with them," the man said. "And I hate to tell you this, but you are not actually okay."

He pointed to the bed, and once again Alison gasped. She, or actually her body, was lying on the bed. She was no medical expert, but she could see that the myriad of machines connected to her was keeping her alive. "Am I dying?"

"I hate to say it, but it looks that way." The man rested his arm on his shoulder.

Alison stared at him blankly. "This is a hallucination, right? Or maybe I'm high on medication? Or one of those near-death experiences?"

"The last option is probably closest to the truth. My name is Clarence, and I'm here to review your life."

Alison's break with reality continued. "Clarence? As in the angel from It's a Wonderful Life?"

Clarence grimaced. "I hate that movie. Each and every one of my contacts from the last seventy years has asked me that same question. One of these days I'm going to publish my list of everything that movie got wrong. Showing someone what their life would have been like had they not been born? Obviously, no one did the research. There are too many variables involved in that."

He exhaled sharply. "So no, not like It's a Wonderful Life. But I am here to show you what has been, what is now, and what may be."

Alison thought about referencing A Christmas Carol, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, but based on Clarence's reaction to her last movie reference, she decided against it. Instead she played along. "Do I get to choose what I see, or have you already picked the scenes?"

"It's your choice. But I should tell you that most people go for the standard chronological order."

Alison pondered her options. At first she wanted to choose to see more of the present, but based on the brief glimpse she got of Flint and Marissa now, she decided against it. "I guess I too will go with the standard chronological order. How far back can I go?"

To answer her question, she was transported to a different hospital room. But unlike hers, the room she entered was full of activity. The first thing Alison noticed was that the machinery, and everyone's dress seemed to be out of date. The second thing she saw was that a very young, very much in pain version of her mother was currently screaming her head off in the hospital bed.

It took Alison a few moments to realize that her mother was uttering a series of colorful curses in a variety of languages. Alison smiled. She apparently had gotten her temper and her multilingualism from her mother. "Ma'am, you need to calm down," one of the nurses said. "Your baby will be here soon."

"Don't you think I know that?" Eleanor Hart snapped.

Once again, Alison smiled. From the little she knew of her mother, she had always assumed that Eleanor had never suffered the pains of labor and instead had used her money to buy her way out. To see her in the throes of labor like every other woman was reassuring.

"And where the hell is Henry?" Eleanor spat out.

One of the nurses volunteered to go find Alison's father. In the present Alison wondered if she needed to follow the nurse, but the "camera angle" began to move and went out into the hallway along with the nurse. Alison felt like she was watching a single camera television show.

They entered the waiting room, where Alison saw her father on the pay phone in the corner. "It's time, Mister Burnett."

He nodded but held up his index finger to tell the nurse to wait a minute. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. He finally finished up the call and followed the nurse back into Eleanor's room. He was immediately greeted by a tirade from his wife.

"Ellie, I'm sorry, but you know I can't even trust Wilson with minor tasks, so I want to make sure he," Henry didn't have a chance to finish his explanation as a guttural scream from his wife cut him off.

"The baby is crowning," the doctor said.

Henry went to his wife's side, and Alison found it amusing that she continued to yell at him in between her contractions. She stopped once they heard a faint cry.

"It's a girl!" The doctor announced.

Alison didn't miss the fleeting look of disappointment on her father's face. But then he faked a smile. He kissed his wife's head who had fallen asleep. "Is she okay?"

"Your daughter is perfect," one of the nurses said with a smile.

"I meant my wife," Henry said.

"She's fine. She's probably just wiped out from her ordeal."

Henry looked from his sleeping wife to the side of the room where they were working on the baby. "They're just cleaning her up," the nurse explained. "You can hold her in a few minutes."

Henry nodded. "I need to make another phone call first. I'll be right back."

Even though it was ridiculous, Alison felt bad for the newborn version of herself. Clarence sensed her thoughts. "You didn't exactly receive a warm welcome into the world. Luckily you and your husband didn't make the same mistake when your daughter was born."

"Yes, because the difference was that Dash and I wanted Marissa."

"Trust me, your parents wanted you too. They just had a strange way of showing it."

The lights blacked out for a moment and when they brightened again Alison and Clarence were standing in an ornate bedroom. "Whoa," Alison said as she tried to get her bearings.

"You'll get used to the scene changes," Clarence explained. "I don't know if you remember this, but it's your childhood home."

Alison had very vague memories of it. She assumed she was in her parents' bedroom. Eleanor was lying in bed, with her husband sitting on the edge. He was holding her hand as she cried softly. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Honey, it's not your fault. The doctor said these things happen."

"But it's the third time. There has to be something wrong with me."

"If that was true, we never would have had Alison. But maybe we could look into some of the new procedures they offer now."

"I don't know if I could go through that. I'm sorry, I know you want a son."

Henry patted her shoulder. "Now is not the time to make any decisions. We'll talk more about it once you feel better." He stood up. "Do you want something to eat? I can have Roberta send a plate up."

"No, I just want to sleep. Please check on Alison."

Henry kissed his wife and then walked down the hallway into another enormous room. If it wasn't for the decorations and toys that made it clear they were still in the past, Alison would have thought they had switched to another scene showing Marissa. The little girl in the room looked almost exactly like her daughter.

Henry kneeled down on the floor. "Alison, honey, can you give your father a hug?"

With a smile, she ran into his arms.

Alison turned away from the touching scene with tears in her eyes. "I think that's the most affection my father ever showed me."

"That's not true," Clarence said. He waved his hand off in the distance, and a series of short clips played in front of her eyes. They were all happy moments shared between her and her parents. In each one, she grew a little older, until the last one which appeared to have occurred a couple of years before they died.

Alison again faced Clarence. "That looks to be about the time they sent me away to boarding school. So what happened? They forgot about me while I was gone?"

"No, it was never about you or the love they felt for you. They started to have problems in their marriage, and unfortunately they took it out on you."

Again, a series of mini-clips played. Her parents fighting in the car. In the kitchen, in the living room. Separate bedroom doors slamming shut. "I think they sent you away to school to keep you from seeing what was happening at home," Clarence added.

"So when they died, they weren't on a romance filled dream excursion in the Alps?" Alison asked.

"Far from it. In fact, it was your father's last-ditch attempt to rekindle a spark with your mother. If it makes you feel better, your grandmother wasn't oblivious to what your parents were doing to you, and she called your father out on it."

The doorbell echoed through the foyer of their home. Henry, looking older than he had in the previous memories, opened the door and visibly sighed. "Good morning, Mother, come on in."

Alison smiled at the vision of her grandmother. Alison remembered Dolores Barnett as a no-nonsense force of nature, and she looked every bit the part as she stormed into the house, glaring at her son.

"Is Eleanor here?"

"No, she needs to pick up a few items for our trip."

"Good, that means I can be frank. You lied to me. You said Alison was going to be joining you in Switzerland."

Alison had to give her father credit. He didn't shirk away from his mother. "I never said she was definitely coming with us. I told you we were going to look into it. Unfortunately, though, with her school schedule she can't come with us this time."

Dolores stared her son down. "Really? You couldn't move your work commitments a few days to make it work?"

"We're not going for business."

"That's even worse." Dolores walked through the foyer and into the sitting room. She went to the bar and poured herself a drink from one of the crystal containers.

"Feel free to make yourself at home," Henry smirked.

"Don't be smart," Dolores scolded. She then took a seat on the couch.

"Mother, I know you're not happy, but believe me, this is the best for all of us. And we're making it up to Alison by letting her go on her own trip for Spring Break."

"For her, or for you and Eleanor? Because schlepping her off so that you can have time alone with your wife doesn't sound very fair to my granddaughter."

"Spending a week in Hawaii is a far cry from 'schlepping'. We told her about Switzerland, and if she really wanted to come with us, she would have told us."

"The child is twelve. It shouldn't be her responsibility to decide her vacation plans. Besides, the only reason why she probably didn't choose to go with you is because you've barely paid any attention to her these last couple of years."

This time Henry did falter. "I know. But I told you, Ellie and I aren't in the best of places right now. I'm hoping this trip gets us back on track. And then we'll make it up to Alison."

In the present, Alison shook her head. "They never got the chance. They were killed on that trip. Did they at least get a chance to reconcile?"

Instead of answering the question, Clarence waived his arm. The scene changed to the snowy streets of St. Moritz. The scenery was gorgeous, but Alison was focused on her parents who were walking hand in hand. They chose one of the restaurants and were immediately seated at a cozy two seater in front of a fireplace. Henry glanced at the menu and the put it down. He reached across the table and grabbed his wife's hands. "I know we still have a long way to go, but I think today was a good day."

"I agree," Eleanor replied with a smile. "I was thinking, if you don't mind, how about we cut this trip short and meet Alison in Honolulu?"

"I don't mind at all. I was thinking the same thing. We can still spend a couple of days here skiing, and then fly out. Tomorrow morning I'll make a few calls to see what our flight options are."

"That sounds perfect," Eleanor said.

Alison bowed her head. "I'm guessing the following day is when they died?"

Clarence nodded. "An earthquake in the area caused an avalanche on the mountain where they were skiing. They were killed instantly." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry if these memories are causing you pain."

Alison wiped at her eyes. "Actually, I can't thank you enough for this. All these years, I just assumed my parents never cared about me. But to see that wasn't true means the world to me."

"They weren't the only ones. Your grandmother, headmaster and classmates were there for you after your parents died. Did you know your grandmother paid your school a visit shortly after the funeral?"

Alison shook her head. She watched as the screen transformed to her boarding school in the hall outside her headmaster's office. Her grandmother entered, looking much older than the previous memory, even though if Clarence's description was correct, it would have been only a couple of weeks from the previous memory.

She knocked on the door and was told to enter. "Mister Berkman, thank you for seeing me."

"Of course, and please call me Paul. We here all want to do what is best for Alison, so I'm glad you came by to talk to us. How is she doing?"

Dolores's head sagged. "About as well as can be expected. She's remained quite calm and composed, the last few days, which does concern me. I'm afraid she hasn't fully expressed her grief yet. And I'm sad to say that we don't have the kind of close relationship where I can hope that she will come crying to me."

"Don't beat yourself up," Paul replied. "To lose both parents at her age is an extremely traumatic event. It may take her some time to process it."

"Do you think she is returning to school too early?"

"Has she asked to come back?" After Dolores nodded, he continued. "She may be looking to return to some sense of normalcy. I think we should let her, but rest assured that all of us here will keep a close eye on her. She will also have access to a grief counselor."

Dolores gave a sad smile. "Thank you, Paul. I know she will be in good hands here."

The scene transitioned to one of the classrooms, where the headmaster was seated with about a dozen girls around him. Alison recognized them as her childhood friends. Headmaster Berkman was speaking quietly to them, while a handful of the girls openly wept.

"Those girls really helped me through that year," Alison remarked.

"How about we skip ahead a few years, to another pivotal point in your life," Clarence said

The scene changed and Alison watched as her younger self walked through a grassy area. She recognized the stone buildings that surrounded the park, and she gasped. "Bryn Mawr," she said. She studied her younger self and noticed the dark sunglasses she was wearing, as well as the cautious gait. Alison guessed she was either nursing a morning after hangover, or recovering from some other typical college activity.

She stopped in front of one of the buildings. With a sigh, she opened the door. The view changed to the inside of an office. Alison recognized it. "That's Mr. McArthur's room. He was my advisor through college." Alison had visited McArthur a few times during her stint at Bryn Mawr, so she didn't remember this particular visit, or why it was one of the important memories Clarence had flagged.

McArthur entered the room. He looked from Alison to his watch. "Ms. Hart-Burnett, thank you for coming to my office, unfortunately though, your appointment was a half hour ago."

"I'm sorry. I was up late studying for an exam."

McArthur took his seat behind his desk. He studied her for a moment before he answered. "Yes, you do look like you have been hitting the books hard."

McArthur's sarcasm was lost on her younger self. She just smiled and waited for McArthur to continue. He picked up a file. "Since I do have other students that may actually be prompt for their appointments, I'll get right to the point. Alison, what is your plan for life after Bryn Mawr?"

"Grad school," she answered automatically.

McArthur nodded. "In what course of study?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"That doesn't surprise me, as based on your electives and other courses it seems like you haven't decided what exactly you're majoring in here either."

"I'm keeping my options open," Alison mumbled.

McArthur folded his hands across his desk. "Alison, in my career on this campus I have known many young women whose only goals have been to waste four years of their life spending a lot of their daddies' money. When I first met you, I thought you were different. But these last couple of semesters, you've been all over the place. Luckily for you, you are extremely bright and have not only handled the heavy course load of random subjects, but have excelled in them. So you were on track to graduate with one of the many majors you have dabbled in. But then I saw the courses you have selected for fall semester of your senior year, and I became concerned."

"There's nothing to worry about. I most likely will go after a double major of Romance Languages and Theater. So it may take me a little longer to graduate."

"Alison, I commend you if that is your ultimate goal. But then I have to ask the question, with the classes that are required for those majors why are you registering for classes in creative writing and East Asian language?"

"Because I find those topics fascinating as well?"

Alison in the present turned toward Clarence. "Now I remember this. I went to my friends afterwards to rant and rave about how unfair it was that he was giving me a hard time. I'm pretty sure I wowed him with an elaborate line of bullshit."

As Alison predicted, her younger self leaned forward and began to wax poetic about how she had a handle on things, that she was dabbling in several different areas of study, and even if it took an extra semester she was going to graduate Bryn Mawr the following year.

Despite her memory to the contrary, McArthur didn't look impressed with her speech. He leaned back in his chair. "Ms. Hart-Burnett, my advice to you at this moment, is to take a good hard look at your upcoming schedule. You still have a couple of weeks to add and drop classes. I also recommend considering what summer classes are being offered. I know that you are confident you have everything under control, but I still have my doubts."

The memory faded and Clarence turned towards Alison. "Despite your thoughts on the matter, Benjamin McArthur was influential in getting your life on track."

Alison nodded. Taking one look at her twenty-year-old self, she could see that while her life at the time hadn't spiraled out of control, she had come close. She may not have realized it at the time, but Clarence was right that McArthur's words had been beneficial, even on a subconscious level. She had tweaked her schedule, taken a couple of summer classes and graduated with her double major at the end of the spring semester the following year. That had opened the door for her to attend Trinity the following fall.

Alison contemplated how her life would have been different if she had continued on the path she had been on. She gave herself the benefit of the doubt and assumed she still would have eventually graduated. But her first semester at Trinity was the catalyst that turned her towards a life in the Army.

As if sensing her thoughts, the scene changed to dusk on the streets of Dublin. Despite the rainy mist enveloping the city, the Temple Bar area was crowded with soccer fans celebrating the Republic of Ireland's win.

Alison picked her younger self out of the crowd. She was surrounded by a group of fellow classmates from Trinity, and they were clearly enjoying their time out. She got a pang in her heart as she glimpsed one of her friends.

She shook her head. "Clarence, no, I can't watch this."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "As painful as this is, the events of this evening change your life. I would guess that if you weren't a firsthand witness to the tragedy that unfolds, you would have continued to pursue a life in the dramatic arts."

He was right. She was enrolled in the one-year graduate theater program in Trinity. Her plan had been to enter the European theater scene. That was until the events of the October evening that was replaying before her. "I wasn't just a witness. I lost a friend that night."

Alison's group stood outside of the Temple Bar which gave the area its namesake. She remembered the conversation vividly. She and two others wanted to go inside, while Beth, a fellow American that Alison had developed a close friendship with, had begged off. She had consumed too many beers that afternoon and just wanted to return to the apartment they shared. Alison watched the scene play out, hoping that somehow, the outcome would change. That she would convince Beth to come inside with them.

But the discussion played out as it had before. After Beth told them that she was quite capable of returning to the apartment on her own, and it wasn't necessary for any of them to cut their evening plans short, she left. Alison and her two friends entered the pub.

Mercifully, the vision ended. With tears streaming down her face, Alison said, "Less than five minutes later all of the festivities came to an end as we heard the sounds of an explosion. A terrorist had detonated a bomb in an alleyway a few blocks away from Temple Bar. Six people were killed, including Beth who had taken that road to return home.

"In the weeks that followed, I came to the realization that while acting was my passion, I wanted to do more to help the world. And I wanted to catch the bastards that killed my friend. I figured I could use my acting ability to work undercover, so I stayed at Trinity to finish out the program. I also took as many language programs as I could. A couple of days after I returned to the States, I signed up for the Army."

"I have to imagine it was one of the scariest days of your life," Clarence said.

"I was terrified."

Alison parked the car and then she double checked the address. The small strip mall she was sitting in front of didn't seem right, until she noticed the US Army sign. Taking a deep breath, she exited her car and strode with as much confidence as she could muster to the entrance of the Army recruiting center.

At first the men behind the counter ignored her. But then she marched up to the counter and told the one closest to her that she was looking to join the Army. He rattled off a list of documents that he needed to proceed. Alison removed the requested items from the folder she carried and handed it to the man.

"You came prepared. I like that."

"What else do you have in your folder?" the second man asked.

"Transcripts," Alison answered. "From my high school, Bryn Mawr and Trinity."

The two men looked at each other. One raised an eyebrow, while the other tried to suppress a smile. The second man asked to see them, and Alison handed him her folder. As he flipped through the papers he asked, "You do know this is the US Army, correct?"

"Yes, sir," Alison replied.

"And that if you really wanted to do this you should have signed up while you were in college. You could have made yourself an officer."

"I realize that. Are you saying that the Army doesn't want me?"

"Not at all. I'm just making sure you know what you are doing."

"I do. I've done my research."

The two smirked at each other again. Then the first one collated a stack of papers. "Fill these out. Once you're done, we'll make appointments for your testing and physical. If you pass those, then we'll start to talk seriously about an Army career."

"They were wrong to judge you," Clarence remarked.

"At the time I agreed with you. But in retrospect, I don't blame them. They saw a spoiled rich girl that had no business being in the Army."

"But you proved them wrong."

Alison grinned. "That I did." She watched as a highlight reel of her Army training played out. It ended with her visit to the Pentagon to meet with General Hawk for the first time.

"I remember that morning vividly. It was at the end of Ranger hell week. I crashed hard on the flight over, so at least I was semi-coherent, but all I could think about during the chat with Hawk was how hungry I was."

Clarence laughed. "Regardless, you still impressed him."

"I assume so. I don't think I would have gotten the job on the Joe team if I didn't."

"Speaking of the Joes, do you remember your first day on the job?"

"Vaguely," Alison said. She turned to watch the memory play out. It started from the chopper ride in. Alison remembered getting on the transport and being surprised by the group that was already on. Not only because it was an eclectic group of men dressed in a variety of non-regulatory uniforms, but there was also a large dog and an eagle on the chopper.

They made their introductions, and once they were done, the pilot turned around. "That will probably be the last time you use your real names. I hope you have a code name picked out, because that's going to be the first thing Duke is going to ask for once your boots hit the ground."

Alison was closest to the front, so she asked the pilot what his code name was. "Wild Bill. Pleased to make your acquaintance, ma'am."

While the others made small talk, Alison spent the ride over contemplating her code name. She had a few options but none felt really right to her. But then she thought back to an acting class she had taken at Bryn Mawr. It had been her least favorite class at the time because of the professor that was assigned to it. Prior to taking the class, she had heard a lot of negative things about him, and he had the reputation of being the worst professor in the theater department.

Despite that, Alison tried to keep a positive outlook on the class. She loved all her acting classes, and she wasn't going to let one professor take away her joy. But then he assigned an obscure early twentieth century play called The Liars for their first production. To say that Alison was disappointed in the selection was an understatement.

She was assigned the lead role of Lady Jessica. Normally, she should have been excited about getting a choice role, but reading through the play, she had found her character to be vain and selfish. Until the professor sat down with her one day and told her what he believed was the author's intention with the character and her storyline.

He then ended his talk with advice that Alison had taken to heart. "I know many of my former students are not exactly enamored with my teaching style, but to be honest, I don't care. Sure, class would be a lot more fun if we do the popular current plays, but this is an institute of learning. The best way to hone your craft is to get out of your comfort zone and take on a challenging role."

To honor that professor, she decided to use that role for her code name. Lady Jessica was quite the mouthful, but she could shorten it to Lady J.

The chopper came in for a landing, and she and her new teammates quickly exited and snapped to attention. Alison expected to see General Hawk, but he wasn't in the group that met them. While Alison stood perfectly still she sized up the welcoming committee. Two men stood in the front, one blond, the other a brunet with a beret. They were deep in conversation, and Alison guessed they were the ones in charge.

Behind them was another very intimidating looking man in a beret as well as a woman with bright red hair that was pulled back in a pony tail. She was staring Alison down. Alison caught her eye and gave her a half smirk. With a shake of her head, the red head joined the two men in front.

The blond finished his conversation and addressed the recruits. "Welcome to Joe Headquarters, Rawhides. My name is Duke, I'm the Top of this unit. To my right, is Flint, XO of the team. Scarlett is our Head of Intelligence, and finally Stalker, who you all will get to know very well over the next few days. To be standing here in front of me means that you are believed to be the best of the best. But now you need to actually prove that to us. The next few weeks will be a probationary period for you. If you pass, you'll become a full-fledged G.I. Joe. If you fail, Wild Bill will escort you back to where you came from."

Stalker took a step forward. "Once you're dismissed, I'm going to give you ten minutes to drop off your things and to change into workout gear. You could grab something quick to eat, but I don't recommend it. You've been lounging around on your asses all morning, so this afternoon you're going to be making up for that."

Alison had to suppress a groan. She had been under the mistaken impression that her bootcamp days had been behind her.

Duke continued. "Flint's going to check you in. Give him your code name. We're going to be cautiously optimistic and get paperwork started on you maggots."

Alison waited her turn. She listened as the others gave their code names, so she could start to get to know them. The man with the Eagle was Spirit. The one with the dog was appropriately named Mutt. The largest man of the group was Roadblock. He got an enthusiastic welcome from both Flint and Duke, as it was apparent the three had history together.

Then it was Alison's turn. "Name?" Flint asked with a slight Midwestern drawl.

"Lady J," she replied. But when Flint wrote it down, she saw that he spelled it out as Lady Jaye. Instead of correcting him, she decided she liked the unusual spelling.

"Your primary MOS is intelligence?"

"Yes, sir," the newly named Lady Jaye replied.

Flint turned towards Scarlett. "You hear that Red? You may be getting some help."

"If she makes it through," Scarlett grumbled.

"Don't worry, I will," Lady Jaye snapped back.

Duke shot her a nasty look. "At ease soldier. How about you save the cocky attitude until you have something to brag about."

Lady Jaye's response was automatic. "Thank you, sir. I will keep that under advisement."

Flint did a poor job of suppressing his grin. He briefly caught her eye before he moved on to the next recruit.

In the present, Alison smiled. "It wasn't exactly love at first sight. Later on, Flint said that my attitude caught his attention that day. He said he was impressed with the way I stood up to Duke and Scarlett."

"And do you remember when he caught your attention?" Clarence asked.

"To be honest, no. I do know once we were fighting Cobra and their weather dominator I had become fond enough of him to be upset when I thought he was lost in battle. And then things progressed pretty quickly from that point."

"I'm sure the first few days on the Joe team were a blur as you had to experience their version of hell week. I'm not sure if you remember that Flint came out at least once a day to watch your training sessions. He used the excuse that he had a vested interest in the new recruits, and he made sure to spread out his criticism to all of the Rawhides. But you the one he was most intrigued about, and he wanted to make sure that you survived to make the team. Do you remember the final challenge?"

"I don't think so," Alison replied honestly.

Alison watched as she and her fellow Rawhides quickly but carefully navigated the booby trapped obstacle course. It was obvious that Lady Jaye had a set course in mind, and in her head she was keeping a countdown timer. As the group progressed through the challenge, one by one they were eliminated, until it was only Lady Jaye and Spirit at the end.

The two huddled behind a fake rock as they contemplated their next move. The finish line was only a short distance away. "It seems to me that staying towards the left of the path is the best way to go," Spirit said.

Lady Jaye shook her head. "No. Something triggers the rock slide and then you're stuck. But staying to the right is no better. You either get hit by the lasers or you're forced off course into the quick sand."

"So I guess we stay in the middle."

Lady Jaye didn't like that option either. The previous few times she ran the course, she knew there was only five seconds before the smoke bomb exploded, incapacitating anyone in the area. And a dummy Cobra Trooper always popped up to block the way through. "We need to figure out a way to take out the Trooper."

"We won't have time," Spirit said. "So instead, I'll go high and you go low. Maybe one of us will make it past him."

It was the best plan they had, so Lady Jaye agreed. The two took off running. While Spirit jumped for the dummy Trooper's shoulders, Lady Jaye dove towards the ground past his legs. Spirit got tangled up, but she was able to slide past. Thinking she was home free, Lady Jaye made a sprint for the finish line, only to come up short. The Cobra Trooper that had become entangled with Spirit was able to get off a single shot that registered on her backpack.

Lady Jaye let out a series of curses in Gaelic. Duke entered the course while slow clapping. "I have no idea what you just said, but I'm guessing it wasn't a self-congratulatory message."

"Hardly," Lady Jaye mumbled. She turned to look at the course behind her. "How long before we have to run it again? Although, I think I have to admit that I might be stumped as to how to get past that last challenge."

Flint joined Duke's side. "I think we've seen enough. Unless you want to try and fail again."

Lady Jaye whipped around to glare at him. "No, I think I'm done amusing you two."

"I'm going to collect the others," Duke said. "It's time to announce who, if anybody, made the team."

Lady Jaye groaned. Since no one completed the challenge, she guessed they were all going to be heading home before the end of the day. She looked at Flint, whose face was impassive. "Since I obviously failed, can you at least tell me the right way to finish the course?"

With a smile, Flint answered simply, "No."

For the first time Lady Jaye noticed that his smile was uneven. She knew she was exhausted and borderline crazy because she found it kind of cute. "Fine. Don't tell me."

Flint's smile grew. "It's not that I won't tell you, it's that I can't. There is no way to finish this course. It's set up to make sure everyone fails. But I believe you were one of the Joes to come closest to the finish."

Lady Jaye homed in on the key word in the statement. "Joes? I made the team?"

"Duke's going to tell you officially in a few minutes, but yes. We actually made the decision a couple of days ago, but we do love putting you Rawhides through this obstacle course."

Lady Jaye shook her head. "You're an ass."

Alison laughed. "Wow, I have no memory of that."

"Sleep deprivation and a deep-seated exhaustion would cause your brain to function at less than capacity," Clarence replied. "You mentioned earlier the mission against Cobra and their weather dominator. You experienced quite the roller coaster of emotions during it."

"I guess I did," Alison replied. She thought back to that time. "I had been a Joe for about two months at that point. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Cobra, and I was itching to take them on. But my first major assignment was to accompany the other Joes on a security assignment. We had to transfer a laser cannon from our HQ to Las Vegas. Traveling that far through the desert, we figured that it would be a ripe target for Cobra. So when I left with the others I was torn over my feelings. I knew that what I should have hoped for was a nice, easy boring ride where we and our cargo remained safe. However, part of me hoped that Cobra reared their ugly heads so I could finally take on the bastards. That wish came true."

Alison watched the battle unfold. She had to admit, it was pretty impressive to see the shot she made while driving with her foot that took down three Cobra hang gliders. It played out as she remembered, with her well timed javelin knocking Cobra Commander out of the sky and into Gung-Ho's arms. Unfortunately though, Cobra captured Duke and Snake-Eyes, leaving Flint in charge.

That too was short lived. Flint led a squadron to chase down Cobra in an attempt to rescue Duke and Snake-Eyes. Lady Jaye, since she hadn't yet qualified to fly a Skystriker solo, was in the back seat of Scarlett's plane. They watched as a freak storm came out of nowhere. Flint ordered Scarlett's group to hold back while he, Mutt and Roadblock continued on. Lady Jaye watched in horror as the three Skystrikers went down.

Scarlett ordered her squadron to return to Headquarters. "Wait, aren't we going to look for them?" Lady Jaye asked.

"You heard Flint's orders. We can't take the risk. Somebody needs to keep the fight going against Cobra."

Lady Jaye used the ride back to Headquarters to get a hold of her emotions. Mutt and Roadblock were her fellow Rawhides and for them to be killed so soon after joining the Joe team was tragic. So her feelings of loss for them was understandable. But what was surprising was how strongly she felt over the loss of Flint. The two had developed a budding friendship, and she had to admit that she had found the Warrant Officer intriguing. But not only was he her teammate, he was her superior so she couldn't give any thought to anything more than a friendship. But he seemed like the type of guy that if she had met at a bar, or a friend's party than she would have tried to pursue a relationship. And that was probably why she mourned his loss.

"That was the first of many times I thought I lost him," Alison remarked.

"But he came back," Clarence said. The scene skipped ahead in time. The Joes were gathered in their main communications room. Lady Jaye had just gotten her assignment from Scarlett to lead a team to retrieve one of the Weather Dominator parts, when Flint and Mutt returned along with a new friend they had made, Shipwreck.

The relief Lady Jaye had felt had been palpable. She tried to keep herself in check while welcoming Flint. "We all kept hoping you'd make it back, Flint."

"Thanks. That means a lot," Flint said with a grin that caused Lady Jaye's heart to practically flutter. But he too recovered quickly. "Knowing your buddies miss you, I mean."

"She's your buddy?" Shipwreck asked as he pushed past Flint. Flint had a brief look of annoyance, but then he smiled and introduced Shipwreck to Lady Jaye. "He saved our necks," Flint explained.

Shipwreck leaned in close to Lady Jaye. With an exaggerated, yet somehow endearing leer he said, "I'd rather save yours."

Lady Jaye blushed. "Thanks but we have a world to save."

Flint gave a brief recap on how he and Mutt escaped thanks to the sacrifice of Roadblock. Scarlett then got Flint up to speed on what had happened while he was gone. "I was wondering why the weather had suddenly gone haywire."

"Our best guess is that when the Weather Dominator was destroyed, it really set the weather patterns into chaos. We tracked the first piece down and I had just give Lady Jaye the order to lead a team to the Palace of Doom when you made your grand entrance."

Flint nodded. "You've done good, Scarlett. All of you have," he said as he addressed the team. "Scarlett, you keep running things here. I'll join Lady Jaye's team. Give me a few minutes to change back into my uniform and I'll meet you at the Skystrikers."

Once Flint returned he walked over to Lady Jaye. "I don't want you to think I'm stealing your thunder on this mission. It's still yours to lead."

"Thanks, Flint, I appreciate that, but since I'm new here I feel more comfortable in an advisory role." She pointed to the plane. "I don't even have clearance to fly one of these yet."

"I'm sure if you need to, you can pilot a Skystriker just fine. But in the mean time you're more than welcome to hitch a ride with me. I'd love the company." He flashed her his smile, and Lady Jaye once again took notice of how attractive he was.

"It was at that point that I realized I was falling hard for him," Alison explained. "But I did my best to keep things professional throughout the mission. I hoped that at the end, once Cobra was defeated, we could figure out where we were going to take things. Especially since there were lots of little signs during that time that he too felt something for me. Which was why at the end, it came as such a shock when he blew me off."

Duke finished his address to the team. "It was a job well done, Joes. I spoke to Hawk earlier, and he too sent along high praise for all of your actions. I'd love to give everyone time off for a job well done, but unfortunately we do still have a base to run, so the standard watch bills have been posted. If you're lucky enough to have tonight off, take advantage of it."

Lady Jaye fully planned on doing just that. She waited until most of the Joes had left, and Flint finished up his conversation with Duke, before she approached the warrant officer. She debated using a witty line, but instead she went with the direct approach. "I don't have watch until tomorrow. If you're free as well, do you want to go get dinner somewhere?"

Flint looked taken aback by the suggestion. "No, I can't." He then followed up with a poor attempt at explaining himself. "I have a ton of paperwork that needs to be signed off on and I really should get it done as soon as possible."

On the slim chance that he was telling the truth, Lady Jaye tried an alternate approach. "Well, you should still eat. We could just get dinner at the commissary."

Flint shook his head. "I really shouldn't."

Lady Jaye stood there for a few moments mortified. She wondered what had happened to Flint, and how she could have misread his intentions so badly. Luckily, Shipwreck popped up saving her from further embarrassment. "Did I hear dinner plans being discussed? Can I join in?"

Lady Jaye smiled at Shipwreck. "Actually, Flint's swamped tonight but I'm free."

Shipwreck grinned. "That works even better. No offense, big guy, but it was more her company I wanted tonight."

"Have a great time," Flint mumbled and then walked away.

"We will," Shipwreck replied. "Shall I pick you up at your room?"

"No, I'll meet you in the rec room. And, Shipwreck, just so we're clear this isn't a date."

The smile never faltered from his face. "Of course. Let's meet in half an hour?"

A short time later Lady Jaye walked down the hallway towards the rec room. She felt a little self-conscious dressed in civilian clothes, but she felt better meeting up with Shipwreck in a public place, as opposed to him coming to pick her up from her room.

She walked in and it was as if all of the noise in the room came to a halt. She was suddenly aware that all eyes were on her. She looked down to make sure she hadn't had a wardrobe malfunction, but all seemed to be in place.

Ripcord was the first to speak. "Jaye, if you don't mind me saying so, you look smokin' right now."

Lady Jaye again glanced at her outfit. She was wearing a nice blouse and a skirt of reasonable length, so she was a little baffled to the response. She then noticed that Flint was also in the room, holding a stack of papers. He too seemed to be enamored by her appearance. "You do look very nice," he said.

Lady Jaye blushed. "Thank you."

"What's the occasion?" Ripcord asked.

"The occasion is a dinner date with yours truly," Shipwreck said as he entered the room.

Lady Jaye didn't miss the brief look of hurt that crossed Flint's face. With a sigh she turned towards Shipwreck. "It's just dinner between two new friends. But if you keep insisting this is a date, it's going to be over before it starts."

"I'll be good," Shipwreck said with a smile.

"Don't trust him, Jaye," Ripcord said as he nudged Shipwreck in the ribs. "I'll be more than happy to be his stand-in tonight."

With a grumble, "Some of us have work to do," Flint pushed passed the three of them and left the room.

"What's his problem?" Ripcord asked.

Both Shipwreck and Lady Jaye ignored the question. "Shall we go?" Shipwreck asked.

Lady Jaye nodded and she said goodbye to Ripcord. She was lost in her thoughts as they made their way to Shipwreck's car. At first he prattled on, oblivious to her distraction but as they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant he finally clued into her mood. "Lady Jaye, I hope you're not reconsidering Ripcord's offer," he said jokingly.

That brought a smile to Lady Jaye's face. "No. Ripcord and I are just friends."

"That's a relief. But in all seriousness, I know there is someone else you probably want to be spending this time with, so if you want to call this off, just say so."

Lady Jaye was surprised. She, Shipwreck and Flint had made an unusual threesome during their altercation with Cobra. She thought Shipwreck had been oblivious to the growing sexual tension between her and Flint, but he was more astute than she had given him credit. She debated how to answer him. She was not going to call off the night. She had meant it when she said she wanted to have dinner with someone she hoped would become a good friend. And she didn't think it was appropriate for her to bare her soul over her conflicted emotional state for Flint. But she thought she still owed it to Shipwreck to be as honest as she could with her feelings.

"Shipwreck, you're right that my heart might be leaning elsewhere. But that's an extremely complicated situation that I hope doesn't interfere with our dinner tonight."

"I'm glad," Shipwreck said. The two exited the car. "Since we're off base and trying to have a night like normal people do, call me Hector."

"As long as you call me Alison."

Shortly after they sat down, both of their communicators beeped with an incoming message. Alison sighed. She had hoped that Cobra would give them at least a little bit of time to recover from their mission. "I guess the Snakes weren't as defeated as we thought."

"Actually maybe they are," Shipwreck said as he scanned the message. "The boys are going out celebrating tonight."

Lady Jaye too read the message. The Joes were meeting up at the local bar. "Do you want to join them?" Shipwreck asked.

"Maybe afterwards," Lady Jaye said.

They ordered their dinners and a bottle of wine. While waiting for the food, they talked about their upbringing and roads to their military careers. She learned that Shipwreck had joined the navy at age sixteen, after he forged his birth certificate.

"Your parents must have been furious," Lady Jaye said.

"I think based on my grades and behavior in high school they were relieved that I had a plan for the future. My parents are absolute saints. I gave them such a hard time, which I'm sure isn't want they signed up for when they adopted me as a baby."

"What happened to your real parents?"

Shipwreck shrugged. "I don't know the whole story. All my parents said was that my mom was a teenager, and I never pursued it. Maybe one day I'll try to find her."

"My parents died when I was twelve," Lady Jaye admitted.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Shipwreck replied.

Lady Jaye waved him off. "It was a long time ago. And I was lucky that my grandmother stepped in, to keep my life as status quo as possible."

Shipwreck raised his glass. "Cheers to the people who have good in their heart to take in those less fortunate."

Lady Jaye with a forced smile clinked Shipwreck's glass. In the present, Alison looked at the scene with a new perspective. She knew at the time that her younger self balked at the idea of her grandmother being selfless. But since she had just witnessed how her grandmother had fought for her well-being, Alison had a newfound respect for her.

The meals were delivered to the table. As they began to eat the food, Lady Jaye changed the topic of conversation. "Tell me the story behind Polly. Are you purposely trying to further the Popeye stereotype?"

Shipwreck grinned. "One of my Navy buds gave him to me as a goof. I was only supposed to keep him for a weekend, but he grew on me. Instead of bringing him back to the pet store, I kept him. Although when he gets on my nerves, I still threaten to return him."

They continued to chat until their plates were cleared away. Lady Jaye was surprised at how much she had enjoyed the evening. So when Shipwreck suggested that they join their friends at the bar, she eagerly agreed.

Once they arrived they found the Joes in the back corner of the room. Flint was leading a group of guys in a toast, and Lady Jaye scowled at him. Apparently he had finished his mountain of paperwork. Shipwreck offered to get them a couple of beers while she took one of the empty chairs at a table that held a half dozen Joes.

They were recounting the events of the last couple of weeks, in the multiple battles against Cobra. Soon it was time for another round, and Lady Jaye offered to get the next one. She walked over to the bar and after placing the order with the bartender, she was joined by Flint.

Flint leaned his arms on the bar and asked, "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Actually I was getting drinks for the table over there," Lady Jaye answered as she nodded towards where she had been sitting.

"No problem," Flint said. He then waved for the bartender and told him to put the drinks on his tab.

Lady Jaye whistled. "You're being very generous."

"It's a night to celebrate. My nephew was born a few hours ago."

"Congratulations. I was wondering why you suddenly had time to go out tonight."

"Thanks," Flint said, however he ignored her latter comment. The bartender set up the drinks and Flint helped Lady Jaye deliver them to the table. A DJ began to play loud obnoxious music so before she took her seat, Flint leaned over to shout into her ear, "Do you want to get some fresh air?"

Lady Jaye nodded and she followed Flint outside. "I'm sorry about earlier. I did really have work to do, but once I got the news from my brother I wanted to take a break. So you and Delgado don't seem all that chummy. I guess your date didn't go well?"

Lady Jaye sighed. "It wasn't a date. But we had a very nice dinner together."

"That's good to hear. Because I would have assigned him some serious KP if he got a little too fresh with you."

Lady Jaye wasn't sure if Flint meant the comment as a joke. Regardless she didn't like the idea of him interfering with the relationships she had with any of the Joes. "Not funny, Flint. You can't have it both ways. If you're not interested in pursuing something between us, you can't stop others who might want to."

"Damn it Alison. Don't you get it? It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't."

His revelation surprised Lady Jaye. She had spent the evening convincing herself that she had misread his intentions. However, finding out that she was wrong still didn't make her feel any better. Lacking anything better to say, she just said, "Okay". It wasn't the time or place to try and figure out how they would move forward. They needed to have that conversation in the morning when they were both sober. "I should go back in."

"No, wait," Flint said. He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. He then leaned over and kissed her.

As her attraction to Flint had grown, she envisioned several times what this moment would be like. To her pleasant surprise, it was better that she had imagined.

When they pulled away, Flint uttered a single word, "Fuck."

"That bad?" she joked.

"No, that good. I had kind of hoped it wouldn't be so that I could get you out of my system."

Lady Jaye smiled and leaned in for a second round. At first the idea of a forbidden romance made the encounter more exciting but then she realized that if Duke walked out of the bar and caught the two of them in their embrace, there would be hell to pay. She abruptly pulled away. "We need to stop."

Flint looked pained but then taking a deep breath, he nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry if I crossed the line."

"No. You didn't do anything that I didn't want to do. But we have to be smart about this. We're both new to the Joe team, and I know I don't want to throw away all that I worked for because I got caught breaking the rules."

Lady Jaye purposely worded her response the way she did. Flint picked up on it immediately and smiled. "I don't want to get caught either."

"So let's take things slow and really get to know each other before things progress too far."

Flint agreed. Lady Jaye turned towards the entrance of the bar. "We should probably head back in."

"Yeah, okay. But I have one last question. When do you want to do dinner?"

Alison turned towards Clarence. "I don't think I can adequately put into words how amazing this experience is. Not only to see parts of my past that I have no memory of, but moments like this that I thought I remembered. I had the general gist correct, but apparently I was fuzzy on the actual details."

Clarence nodded. "Memory is a tricky thing. No one can recall events perfectly. Things progressed rather quickly from that point."

Lady Jaye tried to not focus on the images of the skyscrapers racing by in the side of her vision as she plummeted to the ground. She needed to keep a level head and focus on the DragonFly that Flint was piloting. He was racing the chopper towards her as she pulled the javelin from her back and concentrated on the throw that was literally life or death.

Odds were against her, but it was her last chance. She threw the javelin and prayed that her aim was true. But she looked on in horror as she missed. The last image she had was Flint's look of horror before she hit the ground.

Lady Jaye jerked awake. It took her a moment to get her bearings and remember that she had made the javelin shot that saved her life. She then remembered that she was driving back to Headquarters with Flint in a VAMP after the mission in question.

Flint paced his hand on her thigh. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

"It seemed more than that. That was quite a scream and jump you made."

Lady Jaye squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry. You're right. I was reliving my fall. This time it didn't go quite as well."

"I'm not surprised you're having nightmares. That must have been a horrific experience."

They pulled up to the front gate, and they flashed their credentials to the guard on duty. He waved them through.

Flint pulled the VAMP into the parking area. He turned towards Lady Jaye. "I don't think I had a chance to say this, but I'm really glad you're okay. You scared the hell out of me."

"It scared the hell out of me too."

It was well past dusk, so Flint used the cover of darkness to lean in and kiss her. When he pulled away he asked, "It's late. Do you want to go back to my room?"

Lady Jaye didn't hesitate, "Yes."

It wasn't the first time that Flint had asked the question. But either she had declined, or they had talked themselves out of the idea. They both had been ready to take their relationship to the next level, but with the fraternization regulations looming over them, Lady Jaye wanted to wait until she was sure she was ready to take the risk.

Her near-death experience seemed to be the push that Lady Jaye needed. She followed Flint to his room.

The scene faded away, and Alison was glad she wasn't shown the events that occurred after the door closed behind them. Clarence read her mind, "These visions are strictly rated PG. After that, not only did you grow physically closer, but emotionally as well."

Lady Jaye waited to exit the DragonFly, and hoped that the post mission brief would be delayed. She had no desire to relive the mission any time soon. As she jumped to the ground, she swayed a little on her feet. She was beyond exhausted.

Normally she would have been embarrassed by what would be considered a show of weakness but she was too tired to care. Plus, she knew that the guys that had just suffered through hell with her the previous seventy-two hours looked just as bad as she did.

That point was proven by Duke who had met them on the tarmac. He took one look at them, and ordered them all to their bunks for a full eight hours of shut-eye before they regrouped in the morning.

Lady Jaye acknowledged the order without a word. She grabbed her bag, and as quickly as she could muster she walked into HQ. She had hoped that Flint had been the one to be on duty that evening, so he could have been the one to welcome the team back. But the positive side was that he was most likely off-duty which meant she knew exactly where to find him.

A few minutes later she arrived at the closed door to his suite. She knocked and he opened moments later. "Lady Jaye, I didn't know you were coming back already."

As he continued to gripe about Duke not alerting him to her change in status, she walked into his room. She took in the surroundings. He had a half-finished beer on his coffee table, and an opened novel laying on his loveseat. The quiet sounds of mellow country music was playing on his stereo. It was a scene of normalcy, and something she desperately needed.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Alison, are you okay?"

She shook her head 'no' as she all but collapsed against him. He gently led her to the couch and then wrapped his arms around her. "What happened out there?"

She couldn't articulate the horrors she had experienced. She knew that if she started to talk about it, she was going to break down and have that cry that she probably so desperately needed. But she had always been the strong one, the one that never showed emotion, no matter how awful the situation. She had held it together through the tragic times like at her parents' and Beth's funerals. And from the moment she signed on the dotted line to join the Army, she had to prove that she was just as tough as her fellow soldiers, both women and men. So she wasn't going to lose it over one shitty mission.

"Babe, please talk to me."

Lady Jaye looked up at Flint. The way he was looking at her with deep concern finally broke her. For the first time in her life, she felt a true sense of safety and security. Her tears began to flow as she recapped the mission.

He sat there quietly and just held her until she finished. Once she got control of herself she wiped at her eyes and apologized. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Why not? I bet you feel better."

"I do. But a Joe isn't supposed to cry herself stupid after a bad mission."

"Based on what you told me, I bet you weren't the only one to shed a few tears tonight."

"Maybe. But they aren't doing it while in the arms of their CO."

Flint turned her around so he could face her. He grabbed her hands. "Alison, I know this is a tricky scenario that neither one of us has all the answers for. But the one thing I want you to know, is that when it is just you and I together like this, I don't want you to ever feel like I am your boss. This isn't going to work unless we are true partners."

Alison nodded as she became choked up again. Not from the trauma of the mission, but from the deep feelings she had for the man in front of her. "I love you, Dash."

Alison turned towards Clarence. "That was the first time I told Dash that I loved him. Despite the boost to our relationship, I still felt bad afterwards for how I broke down in front of him. However, he never held it against me."

"Not only that, but he also had a time or two when he needed your support."

This time the scene showed the remains of a bridge, with Duke and Doc overlooking a rescue operation. Alison knew immediately what post mission scene was going to play out.

She watched as Duke and Doc discussed the unlikely odds of finding the team alive, when they appeared in the waters below. The two jumped down to the river and asked Flint where they had disappeared to. "That's a long story."

"And where are Clutch, Grunt and Steeler?" Doc asked.

"That's an even longer story," Lady Jaye replied. With a pained look she turned towards her best guess as to where the three Joes were currently located. "They are some place where brave men are needed badly."

Flint walked over to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. "Amen to that. Good luck buddies, you deserve it."

Lady Jaye turned towards Flint and they embraced. They stayed like that for only a few moments as Duke ordered the team to return to Headquarters. Once they arrived, Duke dismissed everyone but Flint.

Alison assumed that like the previous memories, it was going to remain focused on her movements. But instead, as the team walked away the focus remained on Duke and Flint. "I always wondered how that conversation went."

"Now is your chance to see it play out."

The two walked to Duke's office where Duke remained silent for some time. Alison could tell from his body language that Duke was struggling to keep his emotions in check. "You left three Joes behind. And I don't even know where 'behind' is."

"Our best guess is an alternate world."

Duke glared at Flint. "This is not the time for jokes."

"Unfortunately, it's not a joke. I know it sounds crazy, but we ended up in another version of our world where Cobra had the upper hand."

"Assuming for the moment that is true," Duke began but Flint angrily interrupted him.

"Assuming? Do you think I'm making this shit up?"

"Based on the little information I've gotten so far, I don't honestly know what to think."

"You were the one that dismissed everyone without a debrief."

"I did that as a favor to you. I didn't want to question your leadership skills in front of your team."

"You know what, it's been a long time since you went over one of my missions with a fine-tooth comb. I'll give you the full-blown recap and you can point out every one of my shortcomings. Settle back Duke, and get comfortable, this might take a while."

With a level of detail that impressed Alison, Flint summed up the mission. Duke remained quiet throughout until Flint said that his team was rescued by Grunt and Steeler with the help of the Baroness. "Hold on, you believed the word of one of our greatest enemies?"

"Of course not. But I believed Grunt and Steeler. And since she orchestrated our escape and was going to help us rescue the other team, I decided to hold off on questioning her about her true alliance."

Duke folded his arms across his chest. "You mean the other team Lady Jaye was on."

Flint glared at him. "After all this time that Jaye and I've been together, you're going to give me a hard time now?"

"This is the first time you've come back short three members of your team. I'm sorry if the questions make you uncomfortable, but I want to make sure you didn't sacrifice three of our guys to save your girlfriend."

"There was never a choice that needed to be made. Once we were all reunited we returned to the Proving Grounds. The portal was there, so Footloose, Barbecue and Airtight jumped through, but Steeler said no. Grunt and Clutch decided to stay behind as well. Before I had a chance to even comprehend what they were doing, Jaye noticed the portal was closing. Acting out of instinct I told her to jump for it, and I followed her through."

Flint sighed. "I know it's no consolation, but I feel terrible about them being trapped in that world. But they made their choice. Even if I had time, and ordered them to follow us, they would have refused. The three of them seemed pretty set on staying behind."

Duke nodded. "This is going to make one hell of an after-action report. Which can wait until morning. Go get some sleep."

Flint didn't argue. Instead of heading towards his suite, he went towards the woman's quarters. He knocked on Lady Jaye's door and she opened within moments. "I was hoping you'd come back here tonight."

Flint walked in and then pulled her into his arms. "Do you want to talk about it?" Lady Jaye asked.

Flint shook his head. "No."

"Good. Because I don't either."

"That was a heartbreaking mission," Clarence said. "Luckily the other ones had happier endings."

Alison watched as Lady Jaye entered the Joe's communications room and waved to Breaker. "Hey, Jaye, welcome back. It sounded pretty crazy out there."

"You don't know the half of it," she said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not. Why would I say no to a pretty face?" Breaker said with a smile. "You only missed Flint by a couple of hours."

Lady Jaye nodded. "Any issues so far?"

"Not that I've heard."

Lady Jaye put on a pair of headphones and tuned into the banter Flint, Scarlett and Gung-Ho were engaged in. It wasn't unusual for either her or Scarlett to listen in to the radio traffic from a mission, in case the team needed a piece of intelligence information. However, she hadn't yet given any indication to the three of them that she was listening it. Until they got into a heated debate about dinosaurs, and she felt the need to interrupt.

"Actually, the word dinosaur is Greek for terrible lizard"

"Lady Jaye?" Flint asked.

"Yes it is," she replied.

"You're back from Cairo. How did it go?"

"It was," Lady Jaye paused as she considered the best way to describe her unusual mission. "Interesting to say the least. I'll tell you all about it once you get back."

"Ooh, can I hear the story too?" Gung-Ho teased.

Flint warned Gung-Ho to back off while Scarlett laughed. "I'm glad you're back. I left a couple of hot items on your desk."

"I saw them. They're on my to-do list right after I finish my after-mission report."

Scarlett and Gung-Ho continued to debate dinosaur facts. She then heard her real name being called through the headset. "Flint?"

"Yeah, it's me. I asked Breaker to patch me through on a private line."

"How do you know it's truly private?"

"Because he or anyone else knows that if I catch them I have a list of extra special KP chores lined up for them." Lady Jaye laughed and then Flint continued. "Are you sure you're okay? You sounded a little off earlier."

Lady Jaye smiled. She loved the fact that she and Flint had gotten close enough that he was able to sense her mood even over the airwaves. "I'm fine, really. It was just another supernatural experience that I'm going to need time to process."

"How bad was it?"

"Well, using a scale of the bizarre missions we have previously been on, I'm going to rank it above the Gamesmaster, but below the parallel world."

"Got it. So you're really okay?"

"I am. Thanks for checking up on me."

"Not a problem. Just part of my job. You can tell me all about it when I get back."

"I will. And I can't wait to hear if you actually run into a few dinosaurs. If you do, get photos."

After Flint grumbled, Lady Jaye continued. "What's wrong? Are you afraid they don't exist?"

"No, I'm afraid they do. I'm not exactly trained in hand to raptor combat."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." Lady Jaye glanced over at Breaker who appeared to be engrossed in his computer screen. She lowered her voice, "I love you."

"Love you too. And don't worry, I have every intention of making it back. I want to try again that thing we did the other night."

Lady Jaye blushed. She again looked at Breaker who was still giving no sign of being able to hear what was being said. "I agree. That was a lot of fun."

In the present, Alison wished she could remember what it was that had left the younger version of herself so hot and bothered.

Flint cleared his throat. "I better sign off before this goes any farther. I'll see you soon."

As Lady Jaye returned to her report, Alison turned towards Clarence. "I remember this. Flint's plane gets shot down, and I spent an agonizing few hours convinced that he was killed."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the scene began to play out. All three Skystrikers were hit by missiles that had been launched from the island base below them. Scarlett and Gung-Ho calmly announced that they were ejecting their crippled planes, however Flint doesn't echo the statement.

"Flint?" Lady Jaye asked at the same time that Scarlett pleaded with him to eject.

"I can't. My controls are locked," Flint replied, the tension obvious in his voice.

Lady Jaye remain rooted in her seat, the headphones on her head. As much as she dreaded the idea of listening to Flint's Skystriker go down, she also couldn't not listen. However, the broadcast cut out before she heard anything definitive.

She waited a few moments to see if something came through the static. "Flint? Scarlett? Gung-Ho?". She received no answer from her teammates. A hand touched her on her shoulder and she was so worked up that she nearly jumped out of her seat. "I didn't mean to scare you," Breaker said. "I just noticed that the transmission cut out so I wanted to find out what happened."

"Something went very wrong," Lady Jaye explained as the memory faded away.

"I told you there were a number of times that I thought that I lost him," Alison said. "I was so thankful when I received the news a few hours later that all three of them were alive and well. After that mission Flint was granted leave. Unfortunately, I wasn't, so he took off for the West Coast to visit his brother."

Alison noticed that the scenes played out quickly why she talked. She watched as Flint arrived at his cousin's house, and how the brainwashed family blew him off. Alison laughed. "No wonder he was so perturbed when he called me that night. "Cobra had used subliminal messages to program the townspeople. Flint became one of them, and I had to come to his rescue," she finished proudly.

Alison watched the standoff between her and Flint as she pleaded with him to fight the programming. She remembered being convinced that she was going to die that day, so that when he stopped what he was doing to grab his head in pain, she was so relieved.

"You dodged another proverbial bullet that day," Clarence said. '"All was well for you and Flint," Clarence narrated. "You had the support from your teammates, and your General. But then a new crop of Joes joined the team and you were forced to keep things on the down low."

Lady Jaye kept running. Her lungs were burning, her thighs were calling out in pain, and her feet had long ago gone numb. But she knew she had to hang in just a little bit longer. Mercifully, Beachhead blew the whistle that brought an end to the morning training's session.

Lady Jaye quickly slowed down. She took two more steps before her legs completely gave out on her. She collapsed to the ground. She brought herself up into a sitting position but could go no further. As she panted heavily, she looked around the field and felt better when she saw there were several Joes that were also on the ground.

"Pathetic!" Beachhead roared through the handheld loudspeaker. "You call yourself an elite team, and half of you can't remain standing after a little exercise. You can bet your sorry little asses will be out here same time tomorrow. Dismissed!"

There were several groans and curses uttered once Beachhead finished speaking. Lady Jaye dropped her head to her knees. She hadn't been this exhausted in weeks. She heard footsteps approaching and braced herself for a verbal scolding from Beachhead. However, when she looked up she was pleasantly to find it wasn't him.

"Need a hand?" Flint asked as he extended his arm out to her.

She reached her hand out to grab his and he pulled her to a standing position. Her legs were still rubbery so she stumbled forward. He caught her and put a hand under her elbow to steady her. She was all too aware of how close she was to him. "I'm okay now."

He nodded and quickly took a step back. He then casually glanced around the field. Lady Jaye looked over his shoulder and saw that Beachhead was distracted. He was too busy yelling at Bazooka who was still sprawled out on the ground to notice her and Flint.

"I missed you last night," Flint said quietly.

"Don't take it personally – I never went to bed. Once my watch shift was over, I made the mistake of checking on the global situation, and as I predicted the Brits were a little perturbed by Cobra's actions in their backyard. Two faxes and a conference call later, I was just starting to think about grabbing a nap when Beachhead called for PT."

"When was the last time you got any sleep?" Flint asked with concern.

Lady Jaye sighed. "I don't know – what day is it?"

"Is the British situation stable?" Flint asked.

"I think for the moment. At least until Cobra decides to make a move."

Flint nodded. "Alright, I'm ordering you to a few hours rack time. Forget officer's call, I'll cover for you."

Lady Jaye smiled. "You're not going to get an argument from me this time. Thanks, Flint."

"No problem," he answered with a grin. Lady Jaye felt her stomach do a somersault and she was sorely tempted to kiss him. She could see the desire in his eyes and noticed the gap between them had closed again. She had to mentally remind herself of how dangerous it was to be acting like this in public, with Beachhead in the vicinity. She shook her head no and that seemed to break the spell on him as well.

He cleared his throat. "Well, um, I guess I should let you go," he said.

She nodded and began to walk away. She had only gotten a few feet away when she heard Beachhead call her name, as well as Scarlett's and Cover Girl's. She cursed under her breath, turned around and walked towards the drill instructor. Scarlett and Cover Girl were already present, and both wore matching looks of annoyance. Lady Jaye noticed that Flint casually walked over to join the group.

"Something wrong, Beachhead?" Flint asked.

Beachhead shook his head. "Nope. I just wanted to have a talk with the girls," he answered. Lady Jaye cringed. There was something in the way he said 'girls' that repulsed her. "You can go, Flint," Beachhead continued. "I'm sure you have something all-important to do."

Flint crossed his arms. "No, I'm free for the next hour or so. You don't mind me listening in, do you Beach?"

Lady Jaye exchanged a look with Cover Girl, who rolled her eyes. Since Beachhead joined the team, there had been nothing but animosity between him and Flint, and the two made no secret of it.

Beachhead glared at Flint for a moment, then turned his attention to the women. "I'm disappointed in all three of your performances lately. I've been reviewing the latest few PT scores, and I've noticed a sharp decline in your scores since you joined up."

"I don't think that's all surprising," Scarlett countered. "Those first results came right after we finished bootcamp. Of course we would be in the best shape of our lives at that point."

"Plus, I believe we've never had an issue passing any of the PT's," Cover Girl added. "If I remember right, I think we've always been in the excellent range."

"Well, sure," Beachhead answered. "If you go by the women's guidelines."

Lady Jaye couldn't contain a smirk. "Um, Beachhead, in case you haven't noticed, we are women."

Beachhead glared at her. "I'm well aware of that fact. But by being on this team, haven't you fought for the chance to be considered equal to men? Or do you just want to pick and choose when you use your femininity to your advantage?"

"That's ridiculous," Scarlett spat out. "We made this team based on each of our own merits. We've excelled in all areas, and have gone out on several missions where we've successfully worked side by side with the men on this team. But if you're going to put us up to a test of physical strength against most, if not all, of the men on this team, we're going to lose."

"Which is exactly my point. I've been reviewing the mission reports, and I've noticed a common theme that when one of you have gone up against a Cobra man, you have been overpowered in almost every instance. That's dangerous out in the field. This team has grown to such a size that we have the luxury of being choosy who goes on the mission. I want only the best of the best out there fighting.

"I'm not saying that I want you three off the team," Beachhead continued. "I'm just giving you the heads-up that I'm going to approach Hawk with the idea that whoever doesn't pass the next physical test with my new guidelines attached to it will be temporarily banned from field work."

"What?!" Cover Girl exclaimed. "Are you telling me that the number of pushups one can do in a minute is a good indicator to his/her performance in the field?"

"No, which is why I am overhauling the guidelines. I want it to be based on more real world criteria. However, I refuse to make up one set of guidelines for the men, and one for the women, so you all need to play on the same field."

Despite her frustration with Beachhead's new plan, Lady Jaye's exhaustion caught up to her. She tried to fight it, but a yawn escaped from her. She quickly brought her hand up to her mouth to hide it.

"I'm sorry, am I boring you?" Beachhead asked.

Lady Jaye shook her head. She was too tired to fight him. "I haven't slept in a while," she admitted.

"Poor baby. I hate to see any of my soldiers suffering from a little sleep deprivation," Beachhead said sarcastically.

"Beachhead, lay off of her," Flint ordered. "As least she's been doing real work around here."

Beachhead glared at Flint, but Flint returned the look. Lady Jaye sighed in frustration. "Are we done here, or do the three of us have to watch you two get into a pissing match?"

Beachhead quickly spun around to scold Lady Jaye but Flint cracked a smile as his hands went to the zipper of his pants. "I don't mind whipping it out so we can settle it once and for all," he said.

Scarlett rolled her eyes as Cover Girl began to laugh. It was muted at first, but soon she was openly chuckling.

"See, Beach, the girls will love it. I hope, though, it doesn't inspire you to make that one of your criteria, because they'll be at a distinct disadvantage," Flint grinned. Lady Jaye caught his eye and gave him an incredulous smile.

"Unbelievable," Beachhead griped. "Everyone on this team is unbelievable. You girls are dismissed." He cocked his head at Lady Jaye. "And you go get your beauty sleep. You look like you need it."

"Beachhead, you wound me. Now I won't want to dream about you," Lady Jaye teased. She then turned and walked away before her mouth took things too far.

As the three walked back into the base Cover Girl asked, "Do you think Flint really would have exposed himself if Beachhead took him up on it?"

"I have no doubt in my mind that he would have," Lady Jaye said. "Taking the opportunity to humiliate Beachhead and impress us at the same time is probably his latest goal in life."

Cover Girl smiled. "Oh, so we would be impressed?"

"I plead the fifth," Lady Jaye said with a smile. They reached their room and Lady Jaye couldn't suppress another yawn. "I'm sorry to bail, ladies, but I was given a free sleeping pass, and I intend to use it."

Scarlett spoke up. "Lady Jaye, hold up a second," she walked closer to her and lowered her voice. "All teasing aside, you and Flint need to watch yourself out there. I saw the way you two acted after the run. If you keep that up, you might as well hang a banner in the commissary proclaiming your relationship."

"I know. I didn't intend for him to get that close, it just happened."

"Luckily we didn't have to keep our distance for too long," Alison said. "Cobra had gone underground and we had just started to believe that maybe at some point we had dealt them a crushing blow, when they reappeared with a vengeance. They attacked us at our Headquarters and created a new leader for themselves, Serpentor. So suddenly we were taking on a whole new version of Cobra.

"Hawk took up permanent residence at Joe HQ. We quickly figured out that while he would never explicitly give his blessing for some of the prohibited behaviors of the mainstream Army, he also never condemned it. Beachhead wasn't thrilled with his lax nature, but he learned to live with it."

"Beachhead wasn't your only concern," Clarence said. "None of your missions could be considered easy, but every so often you were faced with one that was extremely dangerous. I know there was a time or two where you tried to talk Flint out of going on one of them"

Lady Jaye glanced at her watch as she took another small sip of her glass of wine. She muttered a couple of obscenities as she wondered how two women who had spent so many years in the Army, where punctuality was a requirement, could consistently be late. Of course, if she asked Flint, he would have pointed out all the times that she had made him wait as well.

She sighed and looked at her watch again as she thought of the warrant officer. It would be at least another four or five hours before he called HQ with his initial check-in. So she had the time to kill. She had been working herself ragged the last couple of days, making sure that Flint and his team had the info they needed to pull off another successful mission. Which was why Scarlett and Cover Girl had insisted that she meet them for a couple of drinks that night.

At first she refused, saying that she was too tired to be much fun, but the two of them had been relentless. Once she realized that she was just going to spend the night pacing HQ and worrying, she relented. She figured that hanging with her friends would be a good distraction. Once that was decided she figured she would make a whole night of it. She desperately wanted to get away from HQ, so after telling Scarlett she would meet the two of them at the bar later that evening, she left for the mall for some retail therapy.

She had enjoyed herself, and for a couple of hours managed to push all thoughts of Flint and the mission out of her mind. But, now with nothing to do but nurse her drink, her mind went back into overdrive.

Which was why she was so annoyed that they hadn't arrived yet. She desperately needed a distraction from her thoughts. Very few of the missions the Joes went on would be classified as a cake walk. There was always a hint of danger to everything they did. But sometimes a mission came up that was on the other end of the spectrum. One that despite the planning and precautions, was still very dangerous. That was the mission that Flint was leading his team on, and Lady Jaye's brain was more than happy to provide a barrage of "what if" scenarios.

To further bring her down, the music in the bar changed. After a steady stream of upbeat rock songs, a ballad began to play. Lady Jaye recognized the tune from the past few days cooped up in the intelligence room of HQ. Usually someone would commandeer the CD player during the planning missions, and subject the room to their particular genre of music. But the stress level had been so high that several verbal fights had broken out. It was finally decided that a local Top 40 radio station would be the music of choice, since it seemed to irritate everyone equally.

The song she was currently listening to must have been an up and coming popular song, because it seemed to play once an hour. At first she had paid no attention to it, but after several airings she had started to really listen to the lyrics and realized it was truly a beautifully written song. She still didn't know who the artist was but it was about the deep love that the singer felt for a nameless woman.

Late the night before, as they were winding down the final preparations, and Lady Jaye was starting to grasp just how truly dangerous this mission was going to be for Flint, the damn song came on the radio again. She again listened to the lyrics about growing old together, and she couldn't help but stare at Flint. He had looked up at her, caught her eye and grinned the smile that she loves so much. She had no idea if the song was affecting him as much as her, or if he was just trying to give her a reassuring smile, but it had proven too much for her. She felt herself choke up, and she quickly, but calmly, left the room.

She ran down the hallway, found an empty office and closed the door behind her. She then let herself go. She didn't hear the door open behind her, until she felt the reassuring hands on her shoulder. "Shh, Alison, it's going to be okay."

She spun around, and fell into Flint's arms. "You don't know that. Dash, this is bad."

"It's not good," he admitted. "But it's not the worst thing I faced."

"I don't see how. You're going deep into enemy territory with a small team and questionable intelligence."

Flint adjusted his beret. "Unfortunately, that's part of our job description. But thanks to the intel you gathered…"

She cut him off. "I know how shitty a situation it is." She stepped away from him and turned her back to him. She debated saying the next words, and tried to hold back, but she knew she had to. Turning around to face him again, she grabbed his hands and said. "Don't go."

"What?" he asked.

"Refuse the mission."

This time he pulled away. "Alison, don't. You know I can't do that. And we made a promise that we would never ask that of each other."

"I know. But even Hawk is wavering on this. If we talk to him…"

"He's going to do what? Go back to the president and say, 'I'm sorry, I can't do what you ordered. My lead intelligence agent doesn't like the set-up and she doesn't want her boyfriend, the team commander, to go on the mission?"

Hearing Flint say it, made Lady Jaye realized how ridiculous she was sounding. He was right that they always swore their personal feelings would not interfere with any mission. "I'm sorry," she said simply.

He hugged her. "Look, it means a lot to me that you care this much. And I hate seeing you this worried. But I still can't refuse this mission."

Lady Jaye nodded. "I know that. And I'm sorry I asked you to."

"Like, I said, it means a lot to me," Flint kissed her. "Don't worry, I will come back to you."

Lady Jaye took a bigger sip of her wine as she reflected on his words. They always promised each other they would return from whatever mission they were on, no matter how dangerous. But she knew that one day their luck was going to run out. She couldn't help but wonder if this time was it.

She watched a couple dance to the song at the opposite end of the bar. They were totally oblivious to their surroundings, just lost in their feelings for each other. She grew even more depressed, as she felt a pang of jealousy. Even if Flint was with her right now, the last thing he would do would be to take her into his arms and dance with her. And normally she wouldn't give it a second thought, as she wasn't one that would fall prey to sappy songs. It was just further proof how worked up this mission had her.

The main door opened to the sound of women laughing. "Finally," Lady Jaye said as she watched Scarlett and Cover Girl entered. She waved to them, but then she jumped off of her stool and ran towards the entrance once she saw the person with them.

"Dash! What are you doing here?" Lady Jaye asked as she leapt into his arms.

"The mission was canceled about two hours into our flight. It seems the president did finally see the wisdom of Hawk's argument and called it off. So we returned to base."

"Thank God," Lady Jaye said as she laid her head against his chest. She found herself swaying to the song that was finishing up.

"I just have one question," Flint said. He kissed the top of her head. "What is up with you and this song?"

"There was no question that you too loved each other. So it must have driven you crazy whenever he showed his jealous side."

Alison watched as the mission with Matthew Burke played out. "I was partially to blame for that. As soon as Flint met Burke he went into Alpha mode. That irritated me, so to annoy him I decided to become chummy with Burke. Afterwards I had a little chat with Flint that he needed to cut the jealousy crap. Especially on missions. Unfortunately that didn't last long, and he was even worse when a few weeks later we had to work with an old buddy of mine."

Alison assumed that she was going to watch segments from that mission, but instead an image of her in her room began to play out. She was talking with Ron Michaels, her old flight school buddy. They were catching each other up on their life since they had last seen each other.

"It sounds like your life has really taken off since I last saw you," Ron said. "Is there a special guy as well?"

Lady Jaye reflected on the question. When she was in flight school, she and Ron did go out on a couple of dates but it quickly became apparent that while they did enjoy each other's company it was more of a platonic sense. She wondered, though, if that was his not so subtle way of asking for them to try again. "Actually, there is. Flint. He's a Joe as well."

Ron whistled. "That must make things interesting."

"It does. There are tough moments, but the good outweighs the bad. It's really nice having someone to come home to at the end of a hard mission."

"So I guess I's pretty serious."

Lady Jaye nodded. "It is. Although in this line of work, it's hard to think about long term plans for the future."

"Hopefully I'll get a chance to meet him."

They then switched topics as Ron told her about the new place he just bought, and the work that needed to be done to it. "So if you want to take a trip to Denver in the next couple of weeks, I can use the extra hands. Be sure to wear something casual."

Alison noticed that in the background Flint was standing in her doorway that was opened to the hall. He grumbled Ron's line about wearing something casual, and then walked away in a huff. She scoffed. "I always wondered what had set him off that day. When I wake up," she began but then trailed off. She looked at Clarence. "Am I going to wake up? Will I see him again?"

Clarence's shoulders slumped. "To be honest I don't know. I have access to many different futures for you, but I don't know which is the one that is going to play out."

"Do you at least know which one is most likely?" Alison asked.

"I do, but you're not going to like it."

Flint strode through the halls of the hospital. He had returned from the Red Shadows mission less than an hour prior, tragically, without the antidote. The warehouse they had raided had been deserted. Once it was clear that he would be no help to Alison he tried to return to her as soon as possible.

All he knew from his brief chat with Diana was that Alison was still alive. When he checked into the hospital he noted that they had moved her to a different wing of the hospital. The reason for that was clear when he entered her room. She had been removed from the heart and lung bypass.

He at first was hopeful that she had beaten the virus on her own, but then he noticed that her breathing was still labored. A nurse walked over to his side. "Mr. Faireborn, welcome back. I wish I had better news about your wife. She was taken off the bypass about twelve hours ago. She was starting to develop blood clots, so the doctor felt it was doing more harm than good.

"Unfortunately there is not much else we can do for her. Our recommendation is that she is taken home on hospice."

Flint reeled from the suggestion. Even though all he thought about on the way back was that there was the very real possibility he was going to lose his wife, hearing the confirmation from the nurse was a figurative punch in the gut.

While in a fog, he called his sister. Diana arrived at the hospital a short time later. Flint had to give his sister credit, as she handled all the arrangements. The hospice team was also very good, and soon Alison was settled into a hospital bed in the guest room with a team of rotating nurses.

A week later Flint woke up, as he had every morning since he brought Alison home, hoping that he was waking up from a nightmare. But the faint smell of antiseptic reminded him that his wife was in the next room, living out her last few days.

"Good morning, Daddy," Marissa said with a smile and gave him a kiss on his cheek. He had forgotten that she had crawled into bed with him in the middle of the night. "Will real mommy come home today?"

The look of hope of his daughter's face combined with her question would normally have sent him to another round of tears. But he realized he was truly emotionally drained, and he had nothing left. "I don't know, sweetie. Maybe."

When Alison had arrived home she briefly woke and immediately asked for Marissa. The child had gone to her, but Alison's appearance had frightened her. Marissa had then run to Flint, asking for her "real" mommy.

Flint hadn't missed the hurt in Alison's eyes. Once he had set Marissa up in her room, he had gone back to her and made excuses for Marissa's behavior.

"Dash, it's okay. I know I look awful. It's fine. I'd rather her remember me as what I used to look like as opposed to what I have become now."

From that point on, Alison had stayed in her room. At first it had been by choice, but it had quickly progressed to necessity as her health took a sharp downhill turn. The nurse who had gone off shift the previous day told Flint she only expected Alison to live another forty-eight hours at most.

Flint carried Marissa to the dining room table and poured her a bowl of cereal. A few minutes later, there was a knock on his door, and Scarlett entered the apartment. She gave him a long hug as he thanked her for coming by.

"It's the least I can do," Scarlett said as she wiped at her eyes. She turned her attention to Marissa. "So, princess, what's on the agenda today?"

"First, Dora. Then the mall!"

Flint couldn't help but laugh. "She knows what she wants."

His amusement was short-lived, as the nurse called for him. He gave a pained look to Scarlett who told him not to worry about Marissa. He turned towards the office, dreading each step that took him closer to the room. As he reached the entrance, the nurse confirmed his fear.

He looked at Alison lying in the bed, barely taking a breath, and their life together flashed through his memories. He remembered the first time he laid eyes on her, the first time she agreed to a date, the first time he made love to her. They had so many great moments together, and he hated fate that was taking her away from him so soon.

When he imagined the moment of her death, he figured she would wake up and they would have one last conversation together. He would tell her how much he loved her, and to not worry about Marissa and him. But she never regained consciousness. One minute she was breathing; the next she was not. He had also expected that he would break down and sob once she was gone, but he didn't. He just continued to hold her hand and stare at her face. The nurse quietly left the room, and a few minutes later she was replaced by Scarlett.

"Oh God, Dash, I am so sorry." That time the tears did come as he hugged Scarlett. "What do you want me to do with Marissa?"

"Al wouldn't want her to see her like this. Continue on with your plans. Try and give her a good day, before I have to tell her…" His voice choked. "Give her whatever she wants, I'll pay you back. I want her to remember this as a great day she had with her Aunt Shana and not the day her mother died. When you get home, I'll tell her then."

The vision faded. Alison came to the realization that she was openly weeping. Clarence put a hand on her shoulder. "I think you have seen enough."

She wiped away at the tears that were streaming down her cheek. "No, please. I need to know that they are going to be okay."

Clarence nodded.

"Diana wants to make a photo montage of Alison."

"That sounds great," Flint mumbled. He had finally learned that it was easier to just reply with whatever his mother wanted to hear.

"Do you have some you want her to use?"

Flint sighed. He walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out an album. "Al started on this when Marissa was born. There are some more on both of our laptops. I trust Diana's judgment."

"Okay, but what about baby photos of Alison? Did she have any from when she was little?"

"I'm sure she did."

"So where are they?"

"Mom, I don't know," Flint said. He was starting to lose the tenuous grip he had on his temper.

"Dash, please this is important. I know at some point you must have discussed where she kept her childhood mementos."

That was the last straw. "No, mom, I didn't. I now know I should have. But during my wife's last dying days I was a little distracted by the fact that it was her last dying days."

Marissa's door opened and she walked over to Flint. She whispered into his ear that she had something to show him. He grabbed her hand and followed her to her room.

On her bed was Alison's laptop. She pressed play. Flint watched as a lifetime of Alison's photos flashed on the screen. Mesmerized by the show, he sat on the bed and Marissa crawled into his lap. By the end, both were openly crying. "Oh sweetie, did you make this?"

"No, Mommy did. But I helped."

Flint was so choked up he couldn't even tell her what a beautiful job she did. Instead he held his daughter tight as they both sobbed.

"Needless to say, it's a difficult time for Flint as he tries to move on with his life," Clarence explained.

Shelly, or Sherry, or Shirley walked out of the house at the same time that Duke arrived. He pointed at the bleached blonde's retreating form and simply asked "Who?"

"She's a waitress at the diner," Flint replied. He could see the disapproval written all over Duke's face. It just made his anger at his friend even worse. _Smug asshole,_ he said to himself.

"The General wanted me to stop by to see if you have any intention of rejoining the team. Your leave of absence will be up soon."

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I haven't made a decision yet."

Duke again looked around the house. To say it was a mess would be an understatement. He frowned at the collection of empty bottles strewn on the table. "Yeah, I can see you've been really busy."

"Fuck you, Hauser. I've been sidetracked mourning the death of my wife."

"I know, Dash, I do. But you can't keep on living like this. You have to try and get your life back to normal."

"Normal? That's funny. My life is never going to be normal again."

"I know you feel that way now. And it never will if you don't start taking steps towards getting your life back on track. I know how much you loved Alison but,"

Flint cut him off. "Jesus Christ, Hauser, you seem to know a lot of things this morning. I don't know how many of your tidbits are coming from a 'dealing with grief' pamphlet, but I appreciate the effort. However, the last thing you, of all people, should be counseling me on is love. You didn't have the balls to stay with the woman you loved when the shit hit the fan. At least, I did. Although, look where it got me."

Duke opened and shut his mouth a few times before he spoke again. "I have to be honest Faireborn, if this was only about you, I would tell you to go fuck off and walk out of here to let you drink yourself to death. But this is more than just about you. I made a promise to Alison, that unfortunately I now feel obligated to keep."

"What promise?"

"She came to me a couple of weeks before she ended up in the hospital for the last time. She knew that her death was going to destroy you, and she asked me to do everything I could to keep that from happening. Not only for your sake, but Marissa's."

Hearing his daughter's name brought a pang to his heart. Flint missed her so much, but the idea of being a father to her just seemed too hard. "That's why I'm doing this."

"Doing what? Drinking and banging waitresses? That's for her benefit?"

"No, of course not. She deserves better. It's not fair to her that she lost Alison. No little girl should have to grow up without a mother to guide her. That's why she's better off in Kansas. She'll have the love and support of her family."

Alison stopped the vision. "He sends Marissa away to his parents?"

"Keep watching," Clarence replied.

Of all the people Flint was expecting to see bail him out, Hawk was probably on the bottom of the list. The cop opened his cell block, gave him back his belongings, and Hawk led him out of the jail.

"This has to stop," Hawk said once they were outside.

"I know," Flint began, but Hawk cut him off.

"You need to stop with the bullshit excuses. You're a chief warrant officer in the US Army and the father of a four-year-old. It's time that you start acting like the responsible human being that you are."

"But, Alison," Flint began again but was stopped by a menacing glare from Hawk.

"Don't you use her as the excuse for the pathetic person you have become. What if she could see you now? Is this how you think she would have wanted you to live? You've abandoned your daughter, and all but abandoned your job. And I'm telling you it stops tonight. As of right now you are on a forced leave of absence. I recommend you fly to Kansas, pick up your little girl and find a vacation spot to spend the next couple of weeks. Once you have bonded with her, and are ready to rejoin society as a functioning being, than I will think about bringing you back on this team."

The scene segued from the dark façade of the jail to what looked like an island resort.

Flint could tell he was the most miserable person on the beach. Despite the beauty of his surroundings, and the perfect weather around him, his heart still ached for Alison. He wished she could be there with him to enjoy the vacation. Luckily, Marissa seemed to be oblivious to his mood. She was currently running around, jumping in and out of the waves, and having a great time. Suddenly she bent over, and let out a shriek.

Flint was instantly on his feet as he thought she had hurt herself. But she ran over to him grasping what was obviously to her a prized possession in her hand. "Daddy, look a seashell! Can we bring it home to show Mommy?"

Her question was like a punch in the gut. He could give her false hope and tell her she could, but he was afraid it would make things worse once they got back home. "Marissa, sweetie, remember when I told you Mommy went to heaven?"

"Yes. But isn't she home now?"

"No, baby girl, she's not. Once you go to heaven you don't come home again."

Marissa's eyes filled with tears. Flint tried to distract her. "But this is a really nice shell you found. Do you want to bring it home to show Aunt Shana?"

Marissa threw the shell down. "No, I only want to give it to Mommy. It's Mommy's shell!"

Flint was aware that several of the people were watching her outburst. He was trying to stay calm, but the whole situation was threatening to unhinge him. He knew it was time to go back to their room. He picked up Marissa, but she continued to yell and began to fight him on it. He grabbed their stuff as best as he could and made the walk back to their room. By the time they got there, her screams had become just muffled cries.

Once in the room, he laid her down on her bed, and she was asleep within moments. He tried to tell himself that she had just gotten overtired, but he knew that wasn't the case. She desperately missed her mother, and he was reminded yet again how unfair the situation was.

He walked over to his suitcase and opened the bottle he had packed away. He had tried to be good, and follow Hawk's orders, but this had been an especially trying afternoon. He deserved a little treat. He took a couple of healthy swigs, and then brought the bottle to the unoccupied bed. He mindlessly flipped through one of the books he had brought, while he continued to drink.

Soon, he too passed out in his bed. He woke a few hours later with a start, and realized it was nearly dark. He wondered why Marissa didn't wake him for dinner. He looked towards the other bed and saw that it was empty. "Marissa?" he called out as his heart began to pound. The hotel room wasn't that big, so it didn't take him long to determine she was no longer in the room.

He charged out of the room and raced towards the front desk. He frantically told the girl working behind the counter that his daughter was missing. She told him to remain calm as she made a couple of calls. He tried to do that, but his mind was going through every worst-case scenario. He couldn't lose Marissa too.

"Mr. Faireborn?" Flint turned and saw a young, petite, tanned blond walking towards him. "My name is Rachel, and I've been hanging out with Marissa. She's in one of our conference rooms working on an art project."

"Oh my God, thank you. I fell asleep, and when I woke up she was gone."

Rachel nodded. She pointed down one of the hallways, and the two walked down it. "We found her wandering around the lobby. She said you were asleep, but she wanted to go back to the beach to find her shell. She said that even though her mother was in heaven, she still wanted to get the shell for her."

Flint had to swallow against his tears. "Her mother, my wife, died about six months go."

"I'm so sorry. She didn't know what room she was staying in, so while Terrie, who's working the counter tried to figure out who belonged to her, I took her to the beach to pick out a shell. She found one she liked, and I took her into the conference room for her to decorate it."

Rachel stopped in front one of the open doors, and Flint felt such a deep feeling of relief and love when he saw Marissa sitting in one of the chairs at the table. He ran over to her and hugged her tight.

She squirmed out of his grip. "Daddy, look what I made. Miss Rachel said when I'm done she can send it to Mommy."

Flint turned towards Rachel, who gave him a nervous smile. "I hope that's okay."

Flint nodded as the tears began to fall. "I think that sounds like a great idea. Mommy is going to love it."

That night, after Flint had tucked Marissa in and he could hear her sleeping soundly, he kissed her on the cheek and said. "I'm sorry sweetheart that you have to deal with this. It's a harsh lesson that life isn't fair. But I promise, that you may have lost your mother, but you haven't lost your father. I'm going to do the best I can to give you the life you deserve."

"They slowly resume a normal life," Clarence said. "But there were still some speed bumps they had to work through."

Flint waited outside the daycare center. He could see Marissa and the other children running around the playground, so he decided to wait a few minutes before getting her. As he watched her play with her friends, he was happy for her resiliency, and he wished that he could have half of it.

"Can I help you?" A middle aged woman asked after exiting the building.

"Hi. I'm sorry. My name is Dashiell Faireborn, I'm Marissa's father. I came to pick her up, but I saw her having such a good time, I decided to wait a few minutes before getting her."

"Ah yes," the woman said. Her face took on a dark look. "I'm very sorry about your wife. Such a tragic story."

"Thank you," Flint said. Since the teacher had opened the can of worms, he decided to continue. "How is Marissa doing? I worry about her a lot since she lost her mother."

"She's doing really well. She has her moments when the littlest things seem to unhinge her, but that's not unusual for her age. You've done a really good job helping her cope."

I had nothing to do with it, Flint thought.

The teacher continued. "And it helps that she continues to have things to look forward to. She told everyone in class how you were signing her up for dance lessons this morning."

Flint felt his heart skip a beat as he realized he had completely forgotten to sign Marissa up. He flashed a fake smile. "It's good to keep her busy." He looked at his watch and wondered if it was too late to run to the dance studio. "So I better get her now."

He walked into the building, and went through the routine of flashing his ID, and reciting the four digit code that proved Marissa truly belonged to him. Once he was cleared, they got Marissa and she ran into his arms with a shout of "Daddy!"

She asked him a couple of times about the dance lessons, but he was able to ignore her questions until they were in the car. "I couldn't go this morning, but let's go over right now and get you signed up."

"Hooray!" Marissa said, and for a few moments Flint thought he could salvage the day. That was until he pulled up to the dance studio and saw a sign out front announcing the list of classes that were full for the next session. Beginning tap dance was on the list.

He cursed to himself, and then decided to throw himself on their mercy. He unbuckled Marissa out of her seat and brought her into the studio. She oohed and ahhed at the dresses on display as he went to talk to the woman behind the counter.

"Good afternoon. I want to sign my daughter up for tap lessons."

She looked at him. "You're about nine hours too late."

Flint sighed. He again turned and watched as Marissa held up one of the dresses against herself. "I know. I was supposed to come first thing this morning. But then I had a meeting on base that I had to attend," he explained as he gestured to his uniform.

She softened slightly. "I'm sorry you missed it. But our classes are first come, first serve. They fill up really quickly."

Flint sighed again. He had already played the military card, but he was debating pulling out his ace in the hole – the dead wife card. As much as it appalled him, the idea of breaking Marissa's heart forced his hand. "I'm sorry, and I really hate to ask, but is there any way you can make an exception? Her mother, my wife, died last year, and I'm still trying to figure out this whole single parenting thing. Marissa was so excited for these dance lessons, and I know I screwed up, but I'd hate to break her heart."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," the woman replied. "What class were you looking at?"

"Beginning tap," Flint answered.

She reached under the counter and pulled out a book. "So she's five?"

"Almost. Her birthday is next month."

The woman grimaced. "What date?"

"The sixteenth."

"Shoot," the woman replied. "I'm sorry, but she's too young. She has to be five on the day of our first lesson which she misses by more than two weeks. That, I absolutely can't make an exception on. We have strict guidelines we need to follow."

"Oh," Flint said simply.

"But the good news is that technically, you didn't miss the sign up. We'll hold another round in a couple of months, and she'll be eligible for them at that time. If you write down your name, her name, and a good contact number I'll call you a day or two before our next sign-ups begin. If you're bogged down at work, I'll make an exception and do a registration over the phone."

"Thank you," Flint said. "I really appreciate all your help."

"You're welcome. It's the least I can do. Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No, I'll tell her on my way home."

Marissa excitedly asked when her lessons would start and again, Flint dodged her questions until they were in the car. Once they were in the relative privacy of the car he broke the news to her. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you have to wait a couple of months before you can do tap dancing."

"Why? Katie says she's taking them."

"She must be a little older than you. You have to be five."

"No!" Marissa shrieked. "I don't want to wait that long!"

"It's not that long. It'll go by fast." The dance studio was only a couple of minutes away from their house, and soon Flint was pulling up to their driveway. As he helped Marissa out of the car, and into the house, she ran inside hysterical crying.

"I hate you Daddy! Mommy would have fixed this. I wish you died and not her!" She then ran into her room and slammed the door.

Flint closed his eyes. _Marissa, I agree with you._ He tried to tell himself that she was just being overdramatic, but he couldn't help but feel hurt by her statement. Not for himself, but he felt so bad again that she didn't have Alison here for her.

He turned towards the liquor cabinet, and opened the door that held the hard stuff. But he paused. Since he had made a promise to take care of Marissa, he had only limited himself to a couple of glasses of wine or beer at night. Both were good for taking the edge off without causing him to go into a drunken stupor. But he had kept a few other bottles around, in case he felt like her really needed something stronger. He felt that after Marissa' outburst he was justified in treating himself. But the thought of Marissa coming out of her room later and seeing him passed out drunk gave him pause. While he figured that eventually she would get over the dance lessons fiasco, finding out that her father was a pathetic drunk would be something she might never forget.

So he did the next best thing. He called Scarlett.

"The years continued on," Clarence said. Alison felt nearly dizzy watching as the images flew by. Marissa grew from a small child into a teenager in a few moments time. Alison wanted to slow it down so she could watch these scenes more clearly, but she had a feeling she wasn't meant to watch them too closely. It stopped on a scene of Flint and a teenage Marissa walked through the halls of the Pentagon.

As Flint watched Marissa wander down the hall, paying no attention to the petty officer's speech, he realized he had made a gross miscalculation into her level of interest into this tour. He shouldn't be surprised, as lately, she had seemed to hate every family activity, but he had hoped that she would find some parts of the Pentagon tour interesting.

"How old is she?" Petty Officer Stevens asked.

"Almost fifteen."

He nodded. "I thought so. My sister is just a year older. They really are a pain in the ass at that age."

Flint smiled. "Yeah, it's a tough age."

"What do you want to do from here? I can take you to the Joint Chief of Staff Corridor, or the Pentagon memorial."

Flint asked Marissa what she would rather do. She shrugged her shoulders and said. "I don't care. But what time are we going to lunch?"

"Soon," he said with a sigh. He turned to the petty officer. "How about we finish off at the memorial?"

Flint had to give Marissa credit, as she did stop and read the various plaques and displays dedicated to the day that the Red Shadows had attacked the Pentagon. He went to her side. "You know you were here that day when it was attacked?"

She looked at him. "I was?"

"Yep. Your mother was working here, and she had just gotten you into the daycare on site. I had come for a visit, as I was still with the Joes in Arizona, when the attack happened. She told me afterwards that despite everything that was going on, all she cared about was getting to you. She had even gotten shot and that didn't stop her. She wasn't going to rest until she had you safe in your arms."

"Wow," Marissa said as she turned back to the display in front of her. "I had no idea."

"I know. That's my fault. I haven't done a good job of telling you about your early years."

Marissa nodded. "You still miss her?"

It had been more than ten years since he had lost Alison, but Flint still got choked up about it. "Yes. Every day. How about you?"

Marissa shrugged again. "I don't even remember her. I guess I miss the idea of having a mother, but since I don't know what it's like to have one, I'm not even sure."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. It was worse when I was a little kid, and I always felt like the girl that had no mom. It was awful at times like Mother's Day, when the teachers would go out of the way to give me a different project. Like I didn't realize I was the only one without a mom to make a card for.

"There are times that I do wonder what it would be like to have a mom. But I don't think I'm missing out on too much since I have Aunt Shana and Aunt Diane take me out for pedicures or to shop for a dress, or if I need to talk about girl things."

Flint made a mental note to thank Scarlett and his sister for the roles they have played in her life.

Marissa looked towards the chapel that was dedicated to the men and women killed in the Red Shadows attack. "I'd like to say a prayer to mom."

Flint nodded and followed her into the chapel. He sat in the pew behind her and said a silent prayer to Alison. "I'm sorry for a lot of things that has happened over the last few years. But look at her. I think we have an amazing daughter."

For the first time since she started to watch the tragic version of events, Alison smiled. "So they do end up okay."

"Actually, even better," Clarence answered.

"Flint, I had the boys' conferences the other day," Scarlett said as she grabbed a seat next to him.

Flint looked up from the paper he was reading. "Oh yeah? How are they doing?"

"Pretty good, but that's not the point. I got into a conversation with Con's teacher and it causally came up that she's single and looking."

Flint let out a laugh. "How does something like that casually come up at a parent teacher conference?"

Scarlett smiled. "I might have noticed that she was a 'Miss' Johnson, and not a 'Mrs'. When we had back to school night a couple of months ago, she seemed like a really nice and fun person, which put the idea in my head to introduce her to you. So after we were done talking about Con, I found a way to mention that I had a very handsome, smart and available friend."

Flint again wondered how Scarlett managed to turn a conference about her son into a matchmaking opportunity. "Shan, thanks, I really do appreciate you looking out for me, but I don't think I'm in the market for a relationship right now."

"Why not? Dash, Alison has been gone over ten years now. I know there is no timetable of grief, but I hope it's not her memory that is keeping you from living your life."

Flint sighed. "I promise you, it's not. I just don't have any desire to enter the dating scene again. And I have Marissa to take care of."

Scarlett laid her hand on Flint's shoulder. "Marissa isn't a little girl anymore that needs constant care and supervision. She's in high school, and soon she's going to be moving out to pursue her own life. What are you going to do then?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. In the meantime, I'm very content with the life I have right now."

A couple of weeks later, Scarlett once again ambushed him in the hallway. "Flint, do you have any plans for Thursday night?"

Flint searched his brain trying to remember if Marissa had any school or sporting events scheduled. "No, I think I'm free."

"Great!" Scarlett said with a smile. "Duke and I are trying to start a Thursday night card tournament, and we're thinking this week is our inaugural event. Do you want to come?"

Flint nodded. "That sounds great. Let me just check with the boss that I haven't forgotten anything."

Thursday night, Flint arrived at the Hauser residence fashionably late. He assumed he would see a few cars parked outside their house, but he took the empty spot in the driveway. He wondered if he had gotten the days mixed up as he approached the house.

Scarlett greeted him with a hug, as Duke offered to get him a glass for the beer he had brought. Flint asked about the others, and Scarlett waved him off saying that they had a few cancellations due to a pee-wee soccer tournament. Flint bought her excuse until a few minutes later when the doorbell rang again. Duke turned towards Flint. "Dash, listen, just keep an open mind. I tried to talk Scarlett out of this, but you know how she gets."

He shot Scarlett a look of disgust.

Scarlett ignored him. "Emily, I'm glad you could come. Let me introduce you to one of our oldest friends, Dashiell Faireborn."

Flint shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Dashiell. Let me guess, your mother was a big Hammett fan?"

Flint smiled. "The story goes she was in the middle of reading The Maltese Falcon, when she went into labor. Since she and my father hadn't decided on a name yet, she took it as a sign. And apparently I didn't look like a Sam."

"Sit down," Scarlett said as she waved at the table. "I'm just going to go bring out the food."

"Do you need help?" Flint and Emily said nearly simultaneously.

"No, Conrad's in there. Please, sit down and continue chatting."

"So, Shana said you have a daughter?"

Flint had to give Scarlett credit. At least she ran his basic info past Emily first, so he didn't have to worry about scaring her off with his baggage.

"Yep, Marissa. She's fifteen." Flint dug into his pants pocket to pull out his phone. He pulled up a recent photo of Marissa and handed the phone to Emily. "She's a freshman in high school, and seems be enjoying it. She's taking honor classes and is on the field hockey team."

"She's a beautiful girl. You must be very proud."

"I know it's a cliché, but she truly is my pride and joy. Except for the times every now and then when she is being overly dramatic and telling me how much she hates me."

Emily let out a laugh. "And that's why I refuse to teach high school kids. I have several friends that tell me I'm nuts for taking on two dozen eight and nine year olds, but I still think it has to be easier than dealing with a room full of hormonal teenagers. At least my kids are still mostly cute and innocent."

"I understand that. With Marissa, I do enjoy hanging out with her, and seeing the adult she is becoming. But I do sometimes miss her cute and innocent days. Although, with the death of her mother, I think she was forced to lose some of that innocence sooner than I would have liked." Flint was testing Emily. He assumed with her knowledge of Marissa, that Scarlett had also told her about the death of Alison. But as he had learned with previous disastrous dates, it was better to get his painful past out into the open.

Emily didn't even bat an eye. "Kids are amazing resilient creatures. One year, I had this little girl, who had such a tragic upbringing. But you would never know it by how she acted in my classroom. From what you said about Marissa, she sounds like she's the same way. As long as they get the love and support they need, they turn out okay. For this little girl, it was her grandmother that saved her. With Marissa, I'm sure she found the love she needed through you."

"I hope so," Flint said as Scarlett and Duke joined the two of them at the table. The four of them made small talk during dinner, and it continued into the card games. Flint had to admit that he was having a good time.

"So, how did you three meet?" Emily said while Duke shuffled the cards for another round of Bridge.

"Conrad and I were part of the founding members of the G.I. Joe team," Scarlett said. "So we met on the tarmac of Joe Headquarters."

"Where her red hair caught my attention immediately," Duke added. "I remember thinking that one day I was going to marry her."

Scarlett let out a loud laugh. "Oh, please, you thought no such thing. And if you did, I'm sure it was directed towards Court, and not me."

"Courtney was our resident ex-model turned Grease Monkey," Flint explained to Emily. "Most of the guys on the team were smitten with her."

Duke agreed with him while he dealt the cards. "That is until they found out it was a very painful prospect to end up on her bad side. A trait the two of you shared," Duke said as he turned back to Scarlett. "Which is why I didn't immediately drop to my knees professing my love for you. That, and I took the fraternization rules seriously unlike..."

Duke cut off his train of thought so suddenly, and with such a grimace on his face, that Flint had to suppress a laugh. It was obvious that Scarlett had given him a very physical sign to stop talking. Luckily, Emily was engrossed in the cards in her hand, and had missed the whole exchange.

"Anyway," Scarlett took up the conversation like nothing was amiss. "The team was small back then, and after our first encounter with Cobra, it was clear we needed to expand our members."

"Which meant they needed to also expand their leadership, so they called me," Flint said.

Duke leaned toward Emily. "Please excuse my friend here, he has a bit of an ego problem. What he failed to mention is that the reason why he received that phone call was based on my rec. We had crossed paths several times through boot camp and various training schools. I thought he had potential, so I threw his name in the hat."

"Best decision he ever made," Flint said with a grin and Emily laughed. Flint noticed how cute her laugh was.

They played out the round, with Flint and Emily winning it handedly. This time, as Flint shuffled the cards while Scarlett updated the scores, they continued their walk down memory lane. "You know, Dash, looking back, I don't think you were all that confident in your leadership skills the first time Ramirez paid the Joes a visit."

It took Flint a few seconds to figure out what Duke was referencing. Once he did he groaned, and then he explained for Emily's benefit. "That was a nightmare. I had been on the team for about a year at that point. I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had several successful missions under my belt, and I felt like I had earned the respect of my teammates." Flint paused to take a sip of his beer. _Plus I had been sleeping with a certain intelligence agent for a few months, so actually I was feeling really good about myself,_ he thought. "And then Duke left HQ for a couple of days, leaving me in charge. It shouldn't have been a big deal. We had a couple of base-wide training exercises scheduled, so I thought it was going to be an easy and quiet time. And it was. Until Hector Ramirez of Twenty Questions showed up with his camera crew.

"He was such a pain in the ass. I don't even remember what juicy story he thought he was chasing, but whatever it was, he was not letting me get away with my various forms of 'no comment'. So I told him I would call Duke back to base, and in the meantime I ordered Shipwreck to take them on a tour and keep an eye on them. That turned out to be my fatal mistake."

"Shipwreck was, and still is, quite the character," Scarlett told Emily. "Take all your stereotypical ideas of a lazy, foul-mouthed, chauvinistic sailor, including owning a parrot, and that will sum up Shipwreck."

"He wasn't that bad," Flint said.

Duke shook his head. "I never understood why you and Jaye have always defended him."

It was true that Alison had seemed to have a soft spot for the sailor, which he admitted pushed his jealousy buttons. He had finally asked her about it after he caught the two of them in deep conversation in the rec room one night. It had been shortly after the mission with the nutty professor and the deadly formula he had invented. After a couple days search, Lady Jaye and Shipwreck had finally located the professor but had come under Cobra fire as they returned to the USS Flagg. It had been one of those times that could have been disastrous as Lady Jaye barely escaped with her life, and Shipwreck had been taken captive.

After giving Flint a hard time about letting his jealousy rear his ugly head yet again, Lady Jaye had explained that Shipwreck had endured a form of mental and emotional torture while at the hands of Cobra. Lady Jaye had been talking with him, trying to help him through it. It had made her realize that under his chauvinistic persona, there was a man with a heart of gold.

"Dash, you going to deal?" Duke asked. He grimaced and Flint knew Scarlett must have expressed her displeasure with him again.

"Sorry. I got lost in the past there for a moment. As for 'Wreck, don't get me wrong. He drove me nuts. And there were many a time that I had to warn him to stop with very inappropriate behavior. But I guess I felt like I owed him. If Mutt and I didn't come across him in that bar when we were up to our eyeballs in Cobra Troopers, my Joe career would have been cut very short."

Flint dealt the cards. "Anyway, back to the Ramirez story. Shipwreck had decided that it would be a good idea to prove to Ramirez and his entourage about the existence of Cobra by single handedly taken them to a semi-active Cobra base. A handful of Joes had figured out his plan after he left, and instead of following proper protocols and alerting me to his harebrained scheme they decided that the best course of action was to chase after him themselves. So a situation that should have been a nuisance at best, turned into a much more dangerous situation with five missing Joes and a journalistic crew. It was at that point, that Duke finally arrived back on base." Flint took a look at his cards and continued the betting.

"Three spades," Duke said and he put down his hand. "I have to admit I really enjoyed watching Flint fidget and squirm as he explained what happened. That is until I realized the severity of the situation. Luckily, the Joe gossip vine was more than happy to share their knowledge, and we were able to chase down our wayward soldiers and journalists."

Surprisingly, Emily seemed riveted by the story. "So what happened? Did Ramirez write a scathing story about the adventure?"

"Actually, the opposite happened. He loved it so much that not only did he produce a very flattering piece on the Joes, but that was the beginning of a series of collaborations." Flint answered.

"I think he was even nominated for a Pulitzer for the Ghost story," Duke answered.

"Actually, he won it," Scarlett clarified.

"Really?" Flint said. "I never knew that. He owes that all to Jaye. It's a shame he turned on us later." Flint wondered if he was going to be on the receiving end of a kick. But Scarlett left him alone. He also wondered if Emily was going to ask about that story. But luckily she didn't as that would take too long to tell.

They played out the round, which Flint and Emily won again, winning the game for them. They high fived and then Emily excused herself to use the restroom. Once she was out of earshot, Scarlett turned to him with an expectant smile. "Well? What do you think of her? She's nice, right?"

"She does seem nice. And I am having a good time. But don't ever do this to me again. I've spent half my life being ambushed by my enemies, and I don't need to be ambushed by my friends as well." Flint looked towards the closed bathroom door before he continued. "And as much as I love seeing Hauser on the receiving end of a good ass kicking, you don't need to do it every time he mentions Alison. She was a part of our life back then, and I'm not so fragile that we need to erase her from our stories of the good old days."

Scarlett started to apologize, but Emily rejoined them. Instead she said, "Emily, I'm sorry, we must be boring you with our war stories."

"No, I've enjoyed them. I was just trying to see if I remember watching any of the Twenty Questions specials, but I was barely a teenager back then, so I don't think I was paying much attention to the news at that point."

Flint startled at her comment. He did the math and realized she was at least a decade younger than he was. He inwardly sighed. But he filed that away to think about later as she continued.

"I guess I was always vaguely aware of the terrorist threat the country faced with Cobra and the Red Shadows but it wasn't really hammered home until the Pentagon was attacked."

Scarlett topped off her wine glass. She offered it to the rest of the table, but only Duke accepted. "Most of the country felt the same way. They thought the threat was over once Cobra disappeared. It was a wake-up call for our nation."

Emily nodded. "Were any of you there when it happened?"

Scarlett looked at Flint with a sad smile. "I was home in Georgia and I believe Conrad was at Joe HQ. But Dash was there."

Flint decided he did need a little more wine. He poured a half of glass, and took a sip. "Actually, I got there a couple of hours after it happened. But Alison and Marissa were in the Pentagon when the attack happened."

Emily gasped. "Oh my God. That must have been so frightening."

"It was. Alison and I were in the midst of a long distance relationship as she was working at the Pentagon, and I was still at Joe HQ. I was flying to DC to spend the weekend with them when the pilot told us what happened. I nearly went out of my mind. But the worst part was that I didn't realize Marissa was there. She was only a few months old, and a neighbor of Al's had been watching her up until the day before when a spot at the Pentagon daycare had opened up. So once I got there and saw the destruction, it was bad enough knowing my wife was in there. But once I found out my daughter was as well, I wouldn't rest until I had them both in my arms again. Which, luckily, is what happened."

"It's a shame that such a tragic event turned into a life changer for us. Afterwards, I was reassigned to the Pentagon which gave us a chance to live like a real family for a few years."

The rest of the night focused on less heavy topics, until Emily looked at her watch and announced, "I'm sorry, but I need to go. I have really early mornings during the week."

She offered to help clean, but Scarlett waved her off.

"I should be heading out as well," Flint said as casually as possible. "I'll walk you out."

Scarlett gave Flint a hug. "This was fun. We should make it a regular event."

Flint then shook Duke's hand and walked out with Emily. "Shana's right, this was a fun night."

"I agree," Emily said. "We should do it again some time."

Flint decided to take a chance. "Do you want to maybe meet up in a couple of days or so for a coffee or something?" _Real smooth, Faireborn, real smooth._

Emily smiled. "I'd like that. I'm going to be swamped until the end of the week with state testing, but once I'm done with that I can give you a call." She handed him her phone. "Give me your number and once I have a free couple of hours I'll call you."

Flint did as requested. He then helped her into the car, and watched as she drove away. He turned towards the Hauser house and saw that Scarlett was staring at him with a huge grin. He could see that she wanted to talk to him to analyze his feelings, which only solidified his resolve to go home.

As he got in the car to do that, she called him. At first he ignored her, but there was one lingering question in his mind. So he called her back. She answered on the first ring and he was immediately peppered with a series of questions. He ignored them all. "Shana, I just have one question for you. Exactly how old is Emily?"

"I'm not sure, but I think she is in her early to mid thirties."

That confirmed what Flint thought. He sighed. "I was afraid of that."

"Why?"

"Don't you think I'm just a tad bit too old for her?"

"Please. You're hardly an old man. I don't think she has any issues with the age difference, and neither should you."

"Flint does decide to take a chance with Emily," Clarence explained.

As Flint watched Emily walk to the door, he mentally reviewed the date they just had. He had a really good time. Such a good time that he had debated extending the date with post show drinks or dessert. But it was late, and when he watched her try to stifle a yawn, he figured it was time to call it a night.

Emily waved before she entered the house, and he drove away. He wondered what he would have done if she had invited him into her house. The idea of regular sex again was very tempting, but he knew in order to accomplish that goal, he needed to get this part of the courtship right. Which is also why he didn't offer to extend the date, he wanted to take things slow. Based on his lack of invitation, he assumed Emily felt the same way. Or maybe it was just her way of saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."

He again replayed the night looking for signs of her true feelings. They had great conversations, he had made her laugh a few times, and they shared a couple of pretty passionate kisses. But maybe he had totally misjudged the night. He figured he would find out when he gave her a follow up call the next day.

Flint sighed. He felt like dating was so much harder now than when he was younger. Which, in reality, it was. He was nearly twenty years older, and full of a lot less piss and vinegar than in his early days. Plus he was carrying a lot more baggage as a widow with a fifteen year old at home.

Speaking of said fifteen year old, Flint had a few choice words for her as he pulled up to their house. It looked like every light was on. No matter how many times he told her to turn them off before bed, she never did it. Shaking his head, he unlocked the front door and walked in.

"Aw, no company tonight?" Marissa asked, startling him.

He looked at his watch. "Why are you still awake?"

Marissa didn't look up from her phone. "It's the first night of Spring Break. I thought I'd be wild and crazy and stay up late. And nice change of subject, by the way."

"That's because I don't think that's an appropriate question for a daughter to ask her father."

Marissa shrugged. "I'd like to think that if you're out looking for a step mother for me, I can have an opinion in the matter."

Flint took a seat next to her on the couch. "First of all, if and when that time comes, you can put in your two cents, but I get final say. Furthermore, this was only my third date with Emily. We are far from step-mother potential."

Marissa put down her phone. "Why didn't you ever remarry? A couple of my friends whose parents divorced now have stepmothers in their lives."

Flint paused while he considered her question. He was going to add it to the long list of potential parenting mistakes he had made over the years. He had always assumed that she hadn't wanted a stepmother in her life, but maybe he was wrong about that.

"I think you go through a different range of emotions during a divorce as opposed to a death. I know there is still pain involved, but I think your feelings for your ex are severed a lot quicker. Therefore, you are more willing to look for someone else a lot sooner. I loved your mother so much the day she died, and that kind of love takes a long time to move on from. It took years before I could even consider having those kinds of feelings for another woman. And then when I was ready to start dating again, I found out it's not so easy. With work, and taking care of you I've been busy."

Marissa rolled her eyes. "I don't need to be taken care of anymore."

"Easy there. I agree you don't need as much hands on work as you once did, but don't get any ideas about declaring your independence just yet." Flint patted her thigh. "Since you're out of school next week, I'm going to take a couple of days off. So think of something fun you want to do. Maybe I'll ask Emily if she wants to tag along with us. You can meet her and give me your thoughts."

"I'd like that."

Flint kissed the top of her head as he stood from the couch. "This was a nice chat, but I need to hit the sack. Don't stay up too much later."

"Okay," she said as she turned her attention back to her phone.

"And, kiddo, I love you."

"Love you too Daddy."

Flint had learned a couple of years ago that living with a teenage daughter was like living with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Starting with their late Friday night conversation, and lasting all weekend, Marissa had been Dr. Jekyll. But earlier that morning at some point she had morphed into Mr. Hyde.

As he watched her type angrily into her phone, and stab her bowl of cereal he debated calling off the meet with Emily. At the very least he felt like he should warn her to his teenager's extra foul mood.

"Hey, Mariss, do you think I should cancel lunch with Emily?"

Marissa slammed down her phone, looked at him and sighed dramatically. "Whatever, Dad. I don't care. Do whatever you want."

Yep, he definitely needed to warn Emily.

He stood from the table, and walked to his bedroom. Once there, he called her. After he explained the situation, and gave her an out on their lunch plans, she laughed. "Dashiell, that's very sweet of you. And I know it might be hard to believe these days, but I too was once a fifteen year old girl. So she doesn't scare me. And maybe she needs another woman to talk to. So I will see you at Anthony's at noon."

He had to give Marissa the credit. She had continued her foul mood all morning, and their father-daughter shopping trip didn't turn out as he expected. He was truly dreading the lunch with Emily, but Marissa was very polite when he made the introductions at the front of Anthony's. As their lunch date continued, Marissa wasn't exactly the epitome of a deep conversationalist, but at least she continued being polite.

After they ordered, the conversation had all but stopped. Until Marissa noticed the Emily was mouthing along to the words of the song playing in the background. "You like this?" she asked hesitantly.

"I got to be honest. He really annoyed me at first. But after he released the last couple of songs, I think I love him."

Marissa let out a shriek. "Oh my God, I've loved him forever. He made such a mistake releasing those songs from his first CD. Trust me, the other ones are much better. Especially if you like this one. It's so romantic. I hope it's still popular so it can be my prom song next year. And it makes such a great wedding song!"

Flint wasn't comfortable with the direction this conversation was going. "Do I know this awesome song?"

Marissa again rolled her eyes. She gave Emily a 'Can you believe this guy?' look that Flint found comical. "Daddy, please. It's the song I always stop on when we're in the car together."

"I can think of a half dozen of songs that fit that category."

Marissa grabbed her phone. "Hold on. I'll play it for you." Within seconds the song started. Flint did vaguely recognize it. But it sounded like every other sappy love song where the singer was crooning about his one true love.

"Oh yeah, it's a good song."

Marissa shook her head, and then turned her full attention to Emily. For the next half hour, Flint felt like a third wheel, but he loved every moment of it. Marissa's mood had a done a total one-eighty, and Emily seemed like she was enjoying herself. As far as he was concerned, it was a win-win.

Emily and Marissa's bonding continued after lunch. Despite having spent most of the morning at the mall, Marissa quickly agreed to a return trip when Emily suggested it once they were done eating. It soon became apparent to Flint her reasoning for it, when seconds after parking the car Marissa asked if he would mind if she shopped with Emily alone. That wasn't exactly the way he planned the rest of the afternoon, but seeing the smile on his daughter's face, he couldn't say no. He gave her his blessing, and his credit card and told her to call him when they were done.

After doing some much needed shopping for himself, Flint parked himself on a bar stool at one of chain restaurants. He ordered a beer that he nursed while he watched the afternoon ball games. His phone finally rang a couple of hours later. He settled up his tab, and then met up with Marissa and Emily. He was a bit dismayed to see Marissa weighed down with so many bags. "I got a dress and shoes for the dance next month! And Emily bought me a totally cool necklace to go with it!"

Flint took a chance and put his arm around Emily's shoulders. "You didn't have to do that."

"I was happy to do it. I think it will go great with the dress she got."

They walked Emily to her car, and Flint wondered who was more disappointed to see her go. "Give me a call later," Emily said as she stood on her tip-toes to give him a kiss.

A few days later Flint found himself with an evening along in his house. Marissa was spending the night with a friend. Usually that meant that he relished the alone time by sitting on the couch in his underwear, eating pizza from the box while he watched whatever game was on ESPN. But he decided the last thing he wanted was to sit in the house alone. Trying to quiet his beating heart, he gave Emily a call and did his best to seem calm, cool and collected.

"Hey, Em, I was just wondering what you were doing tonight," he said after she picked up the phone. She replied that she was doing a whole lot of nothing, so he continued. "Oh, okay. Listen, Marissa is spending the night at a friend's so I was wondering if you wanted to come over. I can make something, or we can order take-out and maybe watch a movie?" _Or, you know, we can work on taking this to the next level, but whatever you want to do is fine by me._

"That sounds great. Do you want me to pick up a bottle of wine, or dessert?"

"No, I have everything here," Flint said as he looked at his empty wine shelf. He figured he could get to the local store and back to pick up a couple bottles before she arrived.

"Okay, I should be there in about forty five minutes or so."

"That sounds perfect, see you then."

Flint ran out to get the wine, took a quick shower and tidied up the main rooms before Emily arrived. He was very pleasantly surprised to see that she too was freshly showered, and made up it a very attractive way. For the first time since he started dating her, he let instinct take over. He gave her a long, deep kiss after he invited her in. She responded in kind, and Flint began to think that dinner was going to be postponed. But then she pulled away and breathlessly asked, "So, dinner?"

Flint recovered quickly. "I pulled out a few menus of the best places around. It all depends on what you're in the mood for. On the other hand, I took a look in my fridge, and I saw that if you're interested, I have everything I need to whip up a pasta primavera."

"That sounds great. And I can help you make it."

Flint grinned. He grabbed the bottle of wine, opened it, and poured them each a glass. "Okay. But I have to warn you, I'm not the best chef. Al used to give me such grief that I never used enough spices in my cooking." He inwardly cringed as he realized what he just said. For some reason, when he was reminiscing with Duke and Scarlett, it seemed okay to talk about Alison. But now that he was alone with Emily, he felt like he was being disrespectful to both women.

Emily, though, seemed unfazed by his comment. She took her glass of wine and walked into the back room that held a shelf of old photos. "Is this Alison?" she asked as she grabbed one of the frames.

Flint didn't have to look at the photo to know which one she held in her hand. Out of the collection he had on display, there was only one that showed just the two of them. It was the one taken of the two of them the afternoon of their quickie wedding ceremony. "Yes. That was taken the day we were married. She was about five months pregnant with Marissa then."

"Oh," Emily replied simply.

Flint smiled. "It's a very long story that I might bore you with one day. But basically, we didn't do things in the socially acceptable order back then."

"Nothing wrong with that," Emily said as she continued to study the photo. "Marissa really is a spitting image of her, isn't she?"

Flint stopped cutting the vegetables to join her in the room. "She is. I have to admit that when she was little, as much as I was thrilled she got her mother's looks, there was a part of me that wished she had some resemblance to me. But now, considering what happened, I'm happy that she looks so much like Alison. It's like she's living on through her daughter."

Emily put down that photo to pick up another. "Oh my goodness! Look at Shana and Conrad! Is this when you were with the Joes?"

"Yes," Flint said with a smile as he looked at the photo. It was a candid shot of Duke, Scarlett, Lady Jaye and him. Flint had his hand on Lady Jaye's shoulder, while Scarlett was gazing at an oblivious Duke. It had been taken at the post "Spell of the Siren" mission party, shortly after the girls had destroyed the conch. He remembered this was the time that he had been clued into the potential budding romance between Duke and Scarlett. Lady Jaye had told him that Scarlett had been a nervous wreck the whole time that Duke had been under the conch's spell. Alison said that she even had to scold her friend a couple of times to focus on the mission. He remembered that Lady Jaye had said that she too had been worried for his safety, but she, unlike Scarlett, had found a way to complete the mission. "We had a lot of strange missions back then that somehow ended up okay for us. This was at one of the post mission celebrations. And you wouldn't believe it based on this photo, and seeing Con and Shana together now, but it took them nearly six years after this to finally tie the knot."

"Ah, so that explains Shana's comments and jokes that night." Emily continued to look at the photo. "Alison was on the Joe team as well?"

"Yep. Her code name was Lady Jaye."

A look of understanding passed over Emily's face. "Is that why every time Conrad said the name 'Jaye' Shana kicked him under the table? The way she responded whenever she heard it I was starting to wonder if he was the name of an ex-boyfriend."

Flint laughed. "I thought you were oblivious to her behavior. But no, I think it was just her weird way of looking out for me."

"I don't know why I didn't put two and two together and figure out that she too was on the Joes. What did she do?"

"She was an intelligence agent like Shana. She was a master of disguises and undercover work."

"And you were second in command behind Conrad. So how did that work?"

"Did I mention that we weren't very fond of rules? It did eventually come back to bite us in the ass, but we made it work."

Emily smiled. "It sounds like all the Joes had a code name. What was yours?"

"Flint," he replied.

She nodded. "I can see that. You look like a Flint."

"Which is why it was more than a code name, it became my nickname. It's only been in the last couple of years that more people call me by my real name other than Flint."

Emily picked up another photo which featured Flint, Alison and a young Marissa. It was the last one taken of the three of them. "So what happened to her? Was she killed in battle?" Emily asked quietly. When she saw the look of sadness on his face she quickly apologized. "I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions."

"No, I'm happy you are. It is painful, but I'm glad you're interested. She wasn't killed on a mission. Do you remember the Red Shadows Superbug? She was one of the ones infected in London. Marissa was too. But Alison sacrificed her life to save her."

"Oh, Dash, that seems awful. I'm so sorry."

"It was a pretty terrible time. And I have to be honest, if it wasn't for Marissa, I don't think I'd be standing here. It took a lot of patience, love and support from my friends and family to pull me from the precipice of grief."

Emily turned towards him and engulfed him in a hug. "How about we put your dinner plans on hold for a little while?"

With a smile Clarence said, "Things progress pretty quickly from that point."

Flint looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. He never thought that he would be in this position again.

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. Duke entered the room and clasped him on the shoulder. "Looking good."

"Thanks," Flint said. "I was just thinking that I never thought I'd be standing here ready to get married again."

"I got to be honest. There was a time there when I too never thought you would reach this point. But I'm glad you are. You deserve it."

"And thank you for taking Marissa for the week. Emily and I appreciate the chance to have a nice honeymoon away."

"It's our pleasure. In fact, we should be thanking you. We fully intend on using Marissa's babysitting skills. Shana has big plans for the week."

"Feel free to put her to work for you."

"It's good to see you're willing to sell me into indentured servitude to get a vacation," Marissa said as she entered the room. She did a twirl as she showed off her maid of honor dress. "What do you think?"

Flint was suddenly swept back to a time two decades earlier when he was on a Greek tycoon's yacht in the Mediterranean. It had been the first time he had seen Alison all dolled up in an exotic gown. Marissa's gown, make-up and upsweep hairstyle had turned her into an exact clone of her mother.

"Hello? Earth to Dad? I'm going to take your non-response that I look good."

Flint came out of his daydream. Taking care not to mess up her hair or make-up he gave Marissa a kiss on her cheek. "You look more than good, you look absolutely beautiful."

Marissa blushed. "Thank you."

"But don't get used to this kind of make-up. This is a special occasion."

"Yes, Dad. I can't stay. I just came to tell you that Emily is right on schedule. So you only have a few more minutes before you need to head to the altar."

"Okay. I'll be there."

Marissa gave her father another kiss and then she turned to Duke. "I was only kidding about the indentured servant comment. I'm actually looking forward to watching the boys for you."

"Thanks," Duke answered. "But you let me know how your feelings have changed after the week with them." He watched Marissa walk out the door. "Wow. For a minute there I thought I was transported back in time."

"You and me both," Flint said. He again was lost in a daydream as he reminisced about long forgotten times.

"Those were good days," Flint continued as his voice choked. He then turned around and slammed his hand into the vanity. "Damn, it. I shouldn't be feeling like this. Not today."

Duke put his hand on his shoulder. "Just because you're marrying Emily, doesn't mean you're erasing the past. No one expects you to forget about Alison."

"But it's not fair to Emily. She deserves more than this."

"Don't beat yourself up. You're human. I think Emily would be concerned if you weren't feeling contradicting emotions right now. Don't look at it as one love replacing another. You're a lucky man that you've found that kind of deep passionate love not once, but twice."

Flint remained quiet so Duke continued. "Do you want me to give you a few minutes alone?"

Flint shook his head. "Nothing good can come from that." He took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

Flint made his way outside, and to his spot at the end of the aisle. He was again nearly overwhelmed by his emotions, as he saw how many of their friends and family were here to witness this. He shook several hands, and hugged many people, including his mother. She held on tight as she sobbed against his shoulder. "Dashiell Robert, I am so happy for you."

"Thanks, Mom," he choked out. Luckily, his dad saved him, as he separated them by telling them it was time.

Flint took his place. As he watched the girls and women walk down the aisle, he again was transported to a previous wedding day. That one didn't have the pomp and circumstances of this. Afterwards, they had briefly discussed putting on a "real" wedding. But real life had gotten in the way. At one point Flint had figured that they would celebrate a milestone anniversary with a renewing of the vows ceremony.

Flint continued to struggle with his emotions of the past and present as he watched Marissa walk down the aisle. She was grinning at him - his smile on Alison's face. This was a glimpse as to what Alison would have looked like walking down the aisle to him. He again hoped that the theories on the afterlife were true, and she was somewhere looking in on this day. He hoped that she was happy with what she saw.

As the music changed, Flint swallowed against the growing lump in his throat. Emily arrived, and Flint gasped when he saw her. She was stunning, and all of his doubts melted away. Duke was right. He was never going to forget Alison, but he was lucky that he had found that kind of love again with Emily.

The scene again faded to black, and Alison knew her glimpse into the future was over. "I'm glad he finds love again."

"As I said, that is only one of the possibilities. There are other variations where Flint does find the cure, and you go on to live a long life. Hold on," Clarence replied. He put a finger in the air and looked up at the sky. "I'm getting in some new information." He then began to have a one-sided conversation with some being Alison couldn't see. When he was done, he turned to Alison and grinned. "I'm happy to report that based on the events of the last few hours, your future odds have changed. There's now a strong chance that you do survive the Superbug."

"I'm going to live?" Alison asked.

"It looks that way."

Alison felt a strong sense of relief. She was anxious to return to her husband and daughter but first she had to ask a question. She had developed an attachment to the woman who could have become the next Mrs. Faireborn and she wanted to know the rest of her story. "What happens to Emily in?" she paused as she tried to figure out how to end the question.

"Your real timeline?" Clarence asked. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that. It's against the rules." But with a twinkle in his eye he leaned over and said in a whisper. "You didn't hear this from me, but she ends up with a very nice English professor. They have two boys I believe."

"And I go on to live and long and healthy life with Dash and Marissa?" Alison asked again.

"See for yourself," Clarence said.

Once again the scenes played out at rapid speed. She caught glimpses of herself coming home from the hospital, in the communications room of Joe HQ getting word that the Joes just captured Dela Eden and the rest of the Red Shadows hierarchy putting an end to their threat. Of her holding a pregnancy test in her hand and later on hugging Flint as she told him the news.

It jumped to a different hospital where she let out an exhausted cry as the doctor announced that it was a boy. Images of Marissa and her baby brother playing in their home, on playgrounds. Other moments of her keeping an eye on her children as she read through intelligence briefs. Discussing with Flint her theories as they finished up dinner. The children grew, she went on to an acting career, and throughout it all it was clear that she was happy.

It ended too quickly. Alison was going to ask to replay certain parts, but she decided not to. She wanted to live those experiences first hand.

"Our time is nearly up," Clarence confirmed. "I have to go, but I hope you've enjoyed this retrospective."

"I have. Thank you for everything. I'm going to miss you."

"I may return. There is still so much more I can show you, but you're good for now. And remember, Alison, you're going to have a Wonderful Life."

 _Final author's note: The song mentioned in Lady Jaye's past and Flint's future is based on Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. That played constantly when I first started writing this, and it obviously influenced this story._


End file.
